GammaGlobulin

I knew you would approve of my sentiments concerning further climbing of Everest. So then, it turns out that we, once again, see eye to eye.

Well, although you only quoted the first sentence of my comment, I believe that if you pay closer attention to the tenor of my comment as a whole, you will know my thoughts about climbing Everest. So, to clarify... a. Stepping on the bodies of those who have climbed Everest and died as a result is no skin off my nose. Those bodies would not have been there if the users of those bodies had been more thoughtful before making the ascent. They must have known that they would be stepped on, or stepped over, if they petered out along the way. b. I have read a lot of accounts of climbing Everest, K2, and other high peaks, and I find the psychology of it fascinating. For example, what must it have been like to call your wife, back home in the USA, while dying on Everest above the death zone during a gale? It must have been quite a conversation. c. I do not like the fact that there are now traffic jams on Everest, just as you are about to go up the Hillary Step, caused by idiots who rely on Sherpas to carry them up; I mean the non-climbers who have no business being there in the first place, mucking up the climb for the very few who do deserve to be there. d. As a first step in the right direction, I would like to see a COMPLETE BAN on all oxygen tanks above base camp. Without oxygen, only the strong and talented climbers would attempt the ascent. e. Sherpas should be banned from stringing up ropes and ladders, especially the ladder at Hillary Step should be removed. If you want to summit, then do it like a man, not a mouse. f. The rope which is strung up to the ladder needs to be removed, and the anchors should be removed. g. All the climbing aids to assist weak climbers of Everest must be removed. Otherwise, it cheapens the accomplishment of Norgay and Hillary!!! Just because one has money, one should not be allowed to buy their way to the summit. Do it alone or with a friend. And do it without oxygen. It's time we separated the men from the little boys.

Thanks, Man! I know you know your stuff being a chemist. But, I also have a question about "hard water" deposits and water softeners. I was told that the filters on offer here use a resin-type or a activated-charcoal type. If true, which might be more effective? Also, it is my understanding that the water being piped in is ground water/well water. So then, being just outside of CM proper, what does that do to your equation, ie, what am I dealing with, and will vinegar be a possible solution... Re: drinking water for my own consumption ... I buy from the company Glacier. So far, no runs. Also, as you say, hard water can contain calcium sulphate, and I have not had the water here analyzed. My conclusion was that I could just buy a gallon and try it. If it easily removes the white mineral deposits all over the shower area, then that might be all I need to know. Just as importantly, I think I would do well to flush the hot water heaters with something to clear out deposits that might exist in the piping of the heater. I figured that vinegar is cheaper than buying some other chemical solution, if it works. I do not see how the use of acetic acid to clean shower and bathroom surfaces might affect the pH of the water coming out of the pipes, however. And therefore, the chlorine concentration of tap water would not change due to use of vinegar. So...Thanks for the informed reply. But, I will mention that one time, while eating Chinese dumplings at a small restaurant on Green Island off the coast of Taiwan, I asked for vinegar to mix with soy sauce and ginger, for dipping. They told me "no vinegar". I explained to them that I ALWAYS have dumplings dipped in vinegar, or I can't eat them. These Chinese are smart. And, they seemed to have gone out and found some industrial grade vinegar and brought it back in a small bowl. So I added the vinegar to the soy sauce and ginger in my dipping saucer and tasted my first dipped dumpling... WOW, MAN! That was really HOT burned my tongue. Still, it was good, but a little bit of that industrial vinegar with your meal goes a long way. Acetic acid comes in all concentrations. I would advise sticking to the vinegar available at the supermarket for all your culinary purposes. (What's the concentration of supermarket vinegar? IDK..but maybe 5 to 10 percent.) Stay away from the 45% acetic acid for dipping your dumplings, by all means. Tks again!

10 years in Chiang Mai, so far. So far, so good. I enjoy all seasons, including the Smoking Season...(I run two air purifiers and two ACs 365 days per year, 24 hours per day. I have sealed all windows, too.) I am NOT bothered by the smoke outside, and have even come to enjoy it, in fact. (This is NOT a joke, by the way. For me, during the Smoking Season, it sort of reminds me of being "Snowed In" when I was a youth living in NE USA. I enjoyed that experience of having one meter of snow, new fallen, and being safe inside my home, and snug. I get the same basic experience, except for a solid 4 months, here in Chiang Mai. So, yes, I do enjoy the Smoking Season for this reason. And, I keep a big supply of 3M N98 masks/with vent, for when I want to go exercising in the smoky mountains. I enjoy this, too! And, this also is NOT a facetious remark.) I intend to stay in CM for another 10 years, that is, if I do not move to Chiang Rai, which I think is doubtful. I have great internet at extremely low cost. I have finally found a house with zero roosters. The roads outside my house are quiet, and almost completely deserted after 12:00AM to 5:30AM. This is the first place I have found where I can sleep without noise. The only problem, these days, at least for me, is the noise of overhead aircraft. This is not likely to go away, anytime soon, unless they decide to move the airport. However, it IS possible to do some soundproofing which actually CAN significantly reduce noise due to aircraft inside the home. And, you can download a helpful paper published, as I recall, by the airport authorities in London. The reason I will NOT move unless something unforeseen occurs is that I do not want to risk moving to a neighborhood which turns out to be noisy. That would spell disaster for me. I hate driving. So, I have a steady driver, and she is one of the kindest souls I have ever met in my life. She's a farm girl with a big heart, and intelligent as heck, with a great sense of humor. I have thought long and hard about this topic during the past three years on lockdown. There is no place that could top Chiang Mai, for me, given my interests and needs. I have a super good dentist. I like the hospital here, too. They gave me rabies shots with a smile last time I was bitten by a rat at one of the food stalls opposite the back gate of the universities, at about 1:00 AM. I feel blessed to be living in Chiang Mai. I love the culture here, the Lana culture I mean especially. I like the fact that people in my community smile at me. I once lived on shore front property in Naples, FL, and also on the East Coast of Taiwan. I have had enough of the sea and the salt air destroying my computer equipment, which gets costly after a while. The beaches around the world are too crowded, at any rate for my taste. I will live in CM as long as I can. I figure, God Willing, I got another 10 years left in me. Or, if I can live to be as old as my fellow-alumnus, Chomsky, is now, then I still gotta long row to hoe ahead of me. And, CM still sounds good for a 94-yo. It's not as if I don't know what it's like to live in CM for a significant part of my life, either. 10 years is NOT "short-time". I am happy to be here. And, I am happy to know you, too. NOTE: Learn to read Thai script....My best advice to you who intend to follow in my footsteps. CHOK-DI!!!

If you want QUALITY, which was mentioned several times already, then I would go with this: You can order here in Asia, probably with speedy delivery, too. Such a beauty, and I would not consider ANYTHING else, in fact...

OK, no problem: "After years of decline, norovirus outbreaks surge on cruise ships. Transmission often occurs in crowded environments where tiny particles can float through the air, and Schaffner says cruises can create the perfect environment for norovirus outbreaks. A large group living and eating in proximity, he said, can serve as a breeding ground for the disease." (CNN Health, https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/11/health/norovirus-outbreaks-cruise-ships-wellness/index.html) "Norovirus, sometimes referred to as the winter vomiting disease, is the most common cause of gastroenteritis.[1][6] Infection is characterized by non-bloody diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain.[2][3] Fever or headaches may also occur." (Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norovirus) Due to risk of transmission of various contagious illnesses, I would think twice about spending THREE YEARS aboard a ship with thousands of people coming and going from many parts of the world. I am not a germaphobe, but I don't get much pleasure from being "laid up" in bed.

Just one word, People: NOROVIRUSES

Great service. Thank you for your help, three times in the past. Hope you are doing well.

I highly recommend using: https://chiangmairemovals.com/ I have used them on three occasions in the past, since 2015. The owner is a super-nice guy from the UK (who also enjoys distance hiking in the UK, when he returns to England during the Hot Season), and I recall his name is John. Really nice person. And, he is careful and reliable. I think that he even offers storage services, both short term and long term storage. Next time I move... I will definitely use this service, once more.

Vinegar is often suggested for household cleaning purposes. Also, vinegar is said to be a very effective agent for descaling of hot water heaters, and maybe even tea kettles, as well. Many areas outside of Chiang Mai are well known for tap water having high concentrations of Calcium Carbonate and maybe Magnesium Carbonate which leaves a white residue in bathrooms, kitchens, etc. I have seen it recommended that Vinegar is effective for cleaning and descaling deposits caused by "Hard Water". However, I have not seen this type of vinegar sold in stores, and in large enough packaging. Here is an image of 45% vinegar sold in a Walmart store online, and I think the price is about USD20.00, which actually seems quite overpriced to me. I would imagine that the price of a similar Thai-manufactured product would be cheaper, if one could find a good source. I would like to buy a gallon, and test it to see if it is, indeed, effective. But where to buy? And, is it effective at cleaning calcium deposits, and maybe mold in the shower, as well? Tks.

Sorry, but from my experience, and according to Wikipedia, "Betel nut chewing, also called betel quid chewing or areca nut chewing, is a practice in which areca nuts (also called "betel nuts") are chewed together with slaked lime and BETEL LEAVES". So, are these betel leaves a different variety than the betel leaves that everybody first thinks about when mentioning the betel leaf? I think not, but still not sure.

Typical betel nut beauties in Taiwan sell mostly to truckers. I have tried betel nut a few times. Tastes sort of like...Swiss Chocolate, only more refined. My Taiwan friends love to see a farang chewing on betel nut. Hardcore betel nut eaters don't even bother spitting out the juice. Very JUICY, for sure, these betel nut girls. I hope you will recall Bloody Mary. As I recall, Bloody Mary first appeared in James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Tales of the South Pacific (written 1944–1946, published 1947). She loved betel nuts. All betel nuts she sold cost Fo Dolla'.

I think it's fine for people to climb this highest of peaks. However, all climbers should be fitted with LARGE fanny packs, or to use the British word...BUMBAGs, so that each and every time they evacuate their bowels on said sacred mountain, ... they can add the waste extruded from their bums...to their BUMBAGS, and then bring it on home, following their ascent. Or, they could hire BUMBAG coolies to carry their loads. Either way, this would make for a much more hygienic climb. Otherwise, some year in the far distant future, Mt. Everest will be nothing more than a brown pile of coprolites.

As everybody here knows, it is not physically possible for a whale to swallow a human. If you are a literalist, Biblically speaking, and you believe that a whale swallowed Jonah, then what was the maximum height and girth of Jonah? Jonah would have to have been the size of a small squid, and no larger. Sometimes, when reading my Bible each and every morning, I become upset by the pervasive hyperbole sprinkled throughout the text.

I like your thinking.

Great Work! When can we expect the torrent link to your MEGA BOOK TORENT file?

Thank you for this link. I had not seen this link before. I will save it in Google Keep.

Yes. Internet Archive has a TON of titles. The problem that I have found is that, at least for me, even if I have registered an account with Internet Archive, I am unable to download the book that I have found. From my experience, they require that I "borrow" the book, and then read the book on the site's "viewer". What fun is that? They give you "One Hour" to read what you can, and then they time you to the second. Also, the viewer, and the quality of the image, stinks. I will never again try to read a book on Internet Archive. Internet Archive has been useful in the past for finding some out of print films that you cannot find on torrent sites, however. (I may be mistaken. But this was my experience using the site two or three times.)

For science journal articles, and the like, which are often inaccessible unless one has university affiliation, then it is always possible to use the SCI-HUB site. SCI-HUB seems to almost never fail, no matter the article you wish to download and read.

I have found that, in many cases, when I am unable to find an academic textbook, or academic publication, on a torrent site, then I am sometimes able to locate the book using eMule.

Yes. And it seems that the PDF site has been sort of out of commission for about two months, as far as I can tell from the comments on blogs that I have seen. The beauty of the PDF site is that it has a huge collection of academic books useful to students with very limited resources, such as students on scholarship studying at local high schools, or local universities, from neighboring countries. They have about zero resources and their scholarships do not pay for any extras. If the PDF site does stays broken, then what might the alternative be, for example?

One of several reasons I posted this OP is because, quite recently, I have noticed that the site "PDF Drive" is no longer working properly, or this seems to be the case. For example, if you go to the PDF Drive site, the entire site is up and running. However, when you find the book you would like to download, the "download" button no longer functions. Why this is the case, I am not sure. I have seen on various blogs that others have noticed the same problem. Therefore, until this site is fully functional, what might an alternative to PDF Drive be? Anybody have a suggestion?

I agree that googling a book is easier and simpler. However, many books available on the internet cannot be googled (for a one-click download) through google search, directly. Many of the available books are not viewable by the google search engine, and therefore will not show up in the search results.

I hope you get your wish.

eMule is NOT a "site", as I mentioned just a moment ago. eMule is a p2p file transfer technology/software