GammaGlobulin

Obviously.

Higher voltage yields higher efficiency. Everybody knows this. I thought I did not need to explain it here on TV, actually.

Yes. Due to efficiency. And, probably other reasons, as well. So then... Would you like to name them... The reasons?

Yes. I remember that, clearly.

After 45 years in Asia, and over a decade in Thailand...honestly speaking... I have yet to be lonely. Not even for an hour. This is actually true. Asia is just, for me, not a lonely place, I guess.

Dear Friends, I have always wondered why Hong Kong delivers 220 volts from wall outlets, while Japan delivers only 100 volts. At first, I thought that Life in Hong Kong must be cheaper than Life in Japan. And now, upon further reflection, I still believe that this is true. But what about you? Do you care more about safety or efficiency? Personally, I really enjoy using a 3000 watt water kettle so that I can have hot water for my Sichuan Green Tea, almost instantaneously. And, for me, a premature death is not that significant, compared to the pleasure I derive from Hot Tea Water, on demand. Still, others may not feel as do I. So, what about you? Is the saved time making tea able to compensate you for a potentially shorter lifespan? Oh, by the way, I found this interesting/somewhat-humorous, yet accurate, comment by James about this very question: Which is safer, 110 volt outlets or 220 (HK Type) outlets. And your preference might be? Best regards, Gamma NOTE4: I was also wondering about OLD SPARKY, and what type of voltage/amperage used for The Hot Seat... So, we know how many volts might be required. However, I would also like to know how many watts is required....to do a human being. I am only sure that my Water Kettle for my Sichuan Tea probably uses nowhere near as much power as... Old Sparky. Am I correct?

These days, even walking, I am ten-times more cautious, and try to always remain vigilant listening for, and turning to look at, cars/trucks approaching from behind, as I travel down the left side of the road, facing oncoming traffic. It's a nightmare, and rather scary, to think about being hit from behind either by a drunk, or by some nutcase driving and texting, or just by some distracted driver. I will not say that this is something unique to Thailand. I think I would be even more fearful about walking in the USA on roads without "sidewalks", as they call them there. How do I know? You should listen to one of Stephen King's scariest horror stories.... If you wanna know.... So, it can happen here, just as it can happen there.

Selling a widget for less than the cost of manufacture is probably not a winning long-term strategy, even, as you say, if sales volume continues to increase.

I forgot to mention in the original post one important aspect of this question: Being a Futurist, it seems almost inevitable that the ongoing trend of radically altering one's appearance will continue into the next few decades. These days, few young people seem entirely satisfied with what the The Good Lord originally gave them. Anyone strolling in Modern Manhattan will see thousands on the street showing off a rainbow of hair colors, shiny gold and silver piercings, and teeth filed to sharp points. Body Image for the modern and hip has already changed, and it is now acceptable to EXPRESS YOURSELF. I recall that Eric Burdon, another famous Futurist, first sang about this phenomenon back in 1970: He said... "I was taken to a place The hall of the mountain kings I stood high by the mountain tops Naked to the world In front of Every kind of girl" And then he said.... "There was long ones, tall ones, short ones, brown ones Black ones, round ones, big ones, crazy ones Out of the middle, came a lady She whispered in my ear Something crazy" He knew....HE REALLY KNEW!!!! He knew what most of us did not, back then at the close of the 60s. And he predicted girls like this: Just listen in case you did not know: You might think that you, EVEN YOU, are not already habituating to the exciting sights of multicolored people you now see everyday, and their numbers are increasing almost exponentially. But you would be wrong. The normalizing of these new color experiences will get to you, too. And, someday soon, you will be less than satisfied and fulfilled without a taste of a woman who appears a bit more exotic than the norm, and the norm is now way out-of-sight! Outta Sight, Man! So this is the reason for this Topic. Just to get you guys thinking about what colors you might wish to try, next time. And we do not need to limit ourselves to traditional skin-tones of the past century, either. The sky is the limit? No, there IS NO limit !!! I am looking forward to the next decade, and toward seeing what I can see. Prepare yourselves, is all that I am cautioning. And, never be critical of what you, yourselves, may not understand...!!!

The year was 2013, sometime around June/July, that the inundation began. Why are the Chinese coming here? They come here to buy a house, educate their children, and live here, making places like Chiang Mai their home. Many of these have a final goal in mind, though, which is to educate their children in an international school in Thailand, and then leave as soon as possible for places like....The USA, maybe Japan, and possibly the UK. Most of the Chinese have much more money than is needed to live in Thailand. And they want to buy the best environment for their family and children, most likely somewhere OTHER than Thailand. Thailand is just a steppingstone to better lives elsewhere.

Not ALL Thai. Just those in the retailing sector. And others. Also, in the customer service sector, most assuredly, such as hotline services, etc. Maybe they do not understand that English is the de facto Lingua Franca of the business world, and the travel industry, the retailing industry, and the export industry, and some other industries. I would be OK if the lingua franca were Chinese, but it's really not, and even in China it is not, when the Chinese want to sell their products abroad, or provide good service at hotels, for example.

I agree with you. I will not shop at HomePro again, if I can possibly avoid doing so. Yes, and it is true that HomePro staff try to be helpful. However, the question is: a. Are they well trained enough to actually prove advantageous to the average shopper at HomePro? b. Anytime the untrained HomePro staff might make an error, then it is the customer who pays the cost, most likely in lost time. c. Maybe the staff are there to enjoy the AirCon, and to lounge about, and to chat with their collegues? d. IF HomePro prices are higher than they might otherwise be, and if this might be due to the excessive number of staff, then some customers might prefer to have HomePro whittle down staff numbers. e. Also, I have found that it is the staff that often get in the way of any task that I am trying to complete. They continually look at me and ask me what I am doing there. Or, what I might be looking for, when even I am not sure exactly what I am seeking. But then, when I actually THINK of something that I am looking for....and when I ask the closest staff, they invariably reply that they do not know. They just say....Ti Noooooon, Ti Nooooooooon. (Over there, Over there, it's Over there.....somewhere.) Just one of my observations about shopping there which might not be entirely accurate, from week to week, as new staff replace existing staff.

We should be most concerned about the ongoing destruction and degradation of the local environment. Many tourists come from countries where the environment is completely trashed, and where the environment may never recover.

The answer to your question, as with all other important questions, can be found in the Bible: The many staff you find in Thailand are there to comfort thee. So obviously ! Therefore, please continue to read your Bible, and all shall be made clear to thee, in time.

It's the cuisine.

What goes through MY mind is.... a. Chiang Mai is the very best culture I have ever had the pleasure to enjoy. And, maybe it's just the Lanna in me. b. I enjoy the smoking season because: When it's so smokey that the data goes off the charts.... THEN... I have no guilty regrets about remaining indoors, seated at my computer, instead of outdoors hiking in the mountains, and sweating like a pig. c. Everybody knows that the Farang in Chiang Mai are smarter than the Farang living anywhere else in Thailand, on average. Just check the data. Or, just look at what the Farang are wearing in Pattaya compared to what the Farang are wearing in Chiang Mai. c2. Or, just read the Chiang Mai Sub-forum, and compare it to the Pattaya Sub-forum. The difference in intelligence is like....Night and Day. No contest, even. d. Honestly, I have never loved living in Asia as much in my 45 years here, as I now do living in Chiang Mai. I guess, maybe, judging from "Point d" that one must be way above average IQ to understand the many blessings we receive after moving to the best city in Thailand, which is Chiang Mai. e. I hate the way newcomers (Farang) can't even pronounce the "Chiang" in Chiang Mai. Total morons, in my view.

Dear Readers, Does it seem increasingly clear to you that paywalling is bad for everyone? For example, I recently found a link to Business Insider and clicked on it, only to find this garbage: Note: If you wish to spend your money on the BI Paywall, then please click on this link, and get your credit card ready: https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-1-million-giveaway-legal-questions-2024-10 And so what was the net effect of this stupidity? a. I did not read the article. Anyway, probably an asinine and best-forgotten article, in the first place, and so I did not miss a thing. b. Business Insider lost a reader, me, because I will not click on BI articles again. c. Business Insider made no Baht, either. =============== And, what do smart people (academics) say about paywalling? a. For one thing, this practice limits free exchange of information, something which is apparent to even a child in elementary school, one child that might benefit from further reading. b. And then, you have academic thinkers who say this about paywalling... https://www.csulb.edu/cob-graduate-programs/faculty-and-research/article/newspaper-paywall-a-profitable-strategy#:~:text=While paywalls brought a success,newly generated digital subscription revenue. You can do what you like and just PAY-UP on Paywall sites. But I NEVER again will make such a foolish choice. A few years ago, I paid for the NYT, but then, I got scammed when they suddenly began charging me more, without asking my permission. What? They think it's so very easy to scam me, an American, and a college grad, and one who read the paper-printed version of the NYT beginning in high school, when a subscription was required for us students? I will not pay. I hope that you will not pay. Who do these publishing houses and scammers think they are? Anyway? Sometimes I feel ..... What are the words? I dunno.... PO'd? Yeah. Pissedoff. That's how I feel. What about you? Regards, Gamma

Maybe so. The United States has NEVER before had a Black Prez. If she were elected, then Jordan would be the First Black President of the United States, without doubt. She was also not a big fan of Nixon, apparently.

China is facing a population crises. The only thing keeping the US from facing the same problem is and will be the influx of immigrants into the US. The only thing is... The US must still be selective in the Quality of Immigrants it allows in, just as Thailand is doing the same when choosing which Quality Tourists arrive here in Thailand. Personally...and HONESTLY, with zero humor in this case: I would admit as many Chinese into the US as wished to emigrate from China to the USA. But still, I would be very selective in my choice of Chinese individuals and families admitted to the US to become permanent residents and eventually US citizens. I really DIG Chinese Culture, Chinese work ethic, Chinese reverence for Family and Education. In fact, I love the Chinese so much that I would actually PAY them to emigrate to the USA. The USA can use all the good Chinese families it can attract. And then, I would provide the top Chinese students with FREE TUITION to any Ivy League school, or to MIT or to CalTech, up through PhD level education, and PostDoc, too. Honestly, this is what I would do. Why should we let China keep all this Talent and Social Capital, anyway? I am SURE that ELON would agree with me.

Which of these women would make the best US president? What are the reasons for your views? Please don't worry whether or not any one of these women are alive. This is not the point of this Topic. The idea is to state the qualities that you consider essential for a female US president. And then, perhaps, extrapolate from your thinking about the qualities these women possess, to assess whether there are any living women that might prove to be the best US Prez that the United States has had in a very long time. Of course, it's possible that some of these women might still be alive. However, this is not important nor essential for this analysis. a. Warren b. Thatcher c. Bush d. Dole e. Harris f. Roosevelt g. Golda Meir h. Unknown Quantity Feel free to add one more... At your discretion. So, which of the above might make the best US president in this year, 2024, through 2028? And why.... If one, or more, of the above might not be a US citizen, then this is also irrelevant for the purposes of this thought exercise. And, may the best woman win! Best regards, Gamma IMPORTANT NOTE: Please ONLY consider individuals who are actually women, biologically speaking. In other words, TWO X chromosomes, and no XY pairs allowed!!!! (Thank You.)

Yes. The SHAFT of his Club was legend.

I actually PREFER it this way. Not knowing where I will end up has never bothered me. Even if I knew where I would end up, I would probably prefer to be elsewhere, anyway.

Yes. It's a King Cobra...

IHMO....one should keep these caveats well in mind...

Definitely NOT a waste of time because.... a. Sichuan Peppercorns and salt are GREAT for roasting suckling lamb, either in China or in Western countries. Also, if you prefer cumin seeds, instead of Sichuan Peppercorns, then please do. If done right, the lamb is so tender that it almost melts in one's mouth. b. Also, I am now on the lookout for good recipes that can be consumed by those undergoing dental implant procedures, and wish to avoid excessive jaw action. And, someone here thoughtfully suggested minced pork with cellophane noodles which I know will be good. (My favorite soup includes finely minced pork combined with glass noodles formed into small 'luuk chin') c. No doubt, there are many here who will find such suggestions helpful.