GammaGlobulin

Does anybody still recall the good old days, April, 2020, when we were warned to either immediately return to our "home countries", or, prepare to "shelter-in-place"? I feel such nostalgia, already. During those days, anytime I rarely saw another farang on the streets, I almost felt halfway inclined to smile at one, or two. It was, like, I almost felt some sort of liking for them, like. And then, about six months ago, I saw my first backpacker in my neighborhood. And then, it was, like, this relative paradise, too fleeting as I had always realized it must be, was quickly coming to its sad end. I don't know whether or not you might have also felt the same pangs of what I would term, the end of innocence, when you first espied your first returning backpacker to Chiang Mai. In Florida, years ago, we used to have a name for them, the tourists. I used to live in Naples, Florida, many years ago. Naples was a jewel of a place, just like Chiang Mai. And then, the snowbirds began flying in. And then, the snowbirds came to roost. And then, the snowbirds invited their developer friends. And, before you knew it, Naples, Florida became, not a jewel, but a tourist trap for uncouth newly rich with strange habits. I could go on, but, thankfully, the OP has already gone on about the real impacts of rampant, unbridled growth of improperly vetted tourists. Please just check out Naples, FL, if you want. And everybody knows that Naples was the last safe haven for those seeking what all tourists are seeking. Fortunately, Chiang Mai is a big place. As the tourists continue to increase, farang who prefer a more traditional Lanna style of life will move elsewhere. What does Lanna mean, anyway? I tink Lan means million. Maybe Na means field. Million Fields? There may be plans to build a second airport here to dramatically increase tourism. So if you create a gateway for 25 million tourists per year, here, then there might be 25 tourists for each field. Maybe, someday, Chiang Mai will become like Vancouver. So many rich tourists and so many rich foreigners, that nobody will be able to live here, anymore. Chiang Mai is such an amazing place. Naples, Florida once was an amazing place. Nobody can predict the future. Impossible to live in the past, probably. No worries, because, there is always Luxembourg.

Sorry. Typo. I meant the Occidental Tourist.

A line straight from Bob Seger... "I was a little too tall, could've used a few pounds" The only difference is that Seger was not thinking about ice cream. No. Far from it... He was tryin' to make some front page drive-in news. Tight points, way up high

In all sincerity, the bread which you photographed is amazing. I'm not sure if the bread I bake would rise without feeding the yeast. By the way, if you cooked for me, I definitely would not add anything, any table-side condiments, to your dishes. I would not wish to alter the intended culinary experience. However, just keep in mind that some like it hot.

Whether or not your pint of BJ contains high fructose corn syrup or cane sugar, this can easily be verified. More to the point is that children should be warned about consumption of either cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Do you disagree with me? Or, are you ready to refute Lustig's claims? Now is the time for us to understand the Bitter Truth of addiction to sugar. I purchase only one kilo of cane sugar per year. BUT I'm not stupid enough to eat it myself. I don't add it to my tea!!! All of the cane sugar I buy, I feed to yeast. In return, the yeast give me CO2. I use the CO2 to make leavened bread. I also enjoy unleavened bread. Per the Torah Old Testament, the newly emancipated Israelites had to leave Egypt in such a hurry that they could not so much as spare time for their breads to rise. Also, Jingthing, I am pretty sure you know that I grew up in a Jewish neighborhood, and thus love unleavened bread. Steer clear of ice-cream. Stop screaming for ice cream. Please just settle for Matzah Balls, instead. Far healthier are the balls, and tastier, too. Learn to wean yourself off sweets. I recall the children in Taiwan of 50 years ago who disliked sweets. They did not munch on Mars bars, either... Back in the day, most of us just sat around cracking melon seeds between our front teeth, while daintily sipping expensive DingDing WuLong. Those were the good old days before diabetes became endemic. Those were the days before Ben and Jerry cast their curse upon the world. Nobody needs ice cream to be happy... Believe me. Ice cream is a total blight upon children's health. In fact, I would go so far as to say that ice cream is worse than some illicit drugs, judging by its public health consequences. Someday, for sure, makers of ice cream will be incarcerated for the harm they do to society... Mark my words.

Yes. More meaningful than last year. I plan to go on Tinder in 2023. I'm sick of my solitary, celibate self. I'll be looking on Tinder for a woman who has skin burned by the sun, back bent over from years of rice planting in the fields, thighs still firm and sinuous; and some woman in her 40s who is still a virgin. Together, she and I will explore new meanings of Meaningfullness. The way I look at it is this: When I was 16, I was attracted to women in their 50s. And, now that I am old, I should be able to get it up for girls in their 40s. The reason I have not, thus far, is mostly because I am lazy. Tomorrow is a new year. I must turn over a new leaf, or I will dry up, surely. I must resolve to flex my joint, or risk losing my flexibility, forever. Maybe Tinder in Thailand might not be the best app for me. What I should be using is some app, one of which would allow me to find 40-year-old curious-yellow rice-planting farm girls. If only there was such an app. What I need in 2023, to completely improve my wellbeing, is about 10 farm girls, I think. Use it. Don't lose it. The popular refrain. Doctor, Doctor, Send me the link!

Great Topic. The OP's intro to this topic is too short for my taste. But, in reply, and in short: The only solution to the Accidental Tourist is the Next Pandemic.

If you cannot get repaid in cash,.. Then just enjoy a pound of flesh, instead?

There very well might be a BJ factory in Asia, as you suggest. But it's neither here nor there, to me. I'm just trying my best to avoid triple-bypass surgery by staying clear of sugar, as well as corn syrup.

You understand probability theory, then? As to your question, good or bad, you just gotta take the bad with the good, unfortunately. Joking aside, I sometimes hope that before we all go up in a glorious thermo-nuclear ball of fire,... that,... We will have created AI to carry on, to carry on. (Blood Sweat & Tears).

Diatarily speaking, I am sure that butter is healthy. It's just that, after watching the film, Last Tango in Paris, with Brando, I have been off butter for years. Still, your suggested recipe sounds great!

Please also consider the carbon footprint of a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream when shipped to Thailand! Just due to the extra carbon pollution, I am sure that neither Ben nor Jerry would want to see you eating their ice cream, so far from their factories.

Eating ice cream by the pint is the surest way to triple bypass surgery. My father ate ice cream by the pint. He endured bypass surgery twice in his life. I don't eat ice-cream. Instead, I just peel a few bananas and store them in the freezer. Please stay away from foods containing sugar. Also, eating ice cream makes one thirsty. And it rots your teeth, if you might still have any left.

Tink too much (the 5th cause)

Absurdism Eugene Ionesco Rhinoceros Too much Reality

15 January 2021 - Nature Article: "COVID curbed carbon emissions in 2020 — but not by much. Despite sharp drops early in the pandemic, global emissions of carbon dioxide picked up in the second half of the year, new data show. The aviation sector was hit hard by the pandemic in 2020, contributing to decreases in global carbon emissions. After rising steadily for decades, global carbon dioxide emissions fell by 6.4%, or 2.3 billion tonnes, in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic squelched economic and social activities worldwide, according to new data on daily fossil fuel emissions. The decline is significant — roughly double Japan’s yearly emissions — but smaller than many climate researchers expected given the scale of the pandemic, and is not expected to last once the virus is brought under control." We are still on the path of exponential growth.

Probably, there was never a better rendition than this one by Steve Winwood...

Punning seems to be our last true pleasure in life, which costs nothing and does no harm. More power to you in your punning.

Land is wealth. The land had been in his family for generations. His largest expenditure was to purchase a sawmill. This guy is extremely wealthy, even though he will never drive a Bentley.

Great minds think exactly alike, in this case. The writing was on the wall, since the 1960s and '70s. Strangely enough, however, Paul Ehrlich had a daughter, as I recall.

Speaking strictly selfishly, I must admit that the past three years have suited me. In fact, again speaking selfishly, I would enjoy another back-to-back three-year pandemic. Bring it on! But, in fact, the past three years have hugely and negatively affected the education and the wellbeing of our next generation. Some children who might have chosen to pursue a more rigorous science curriculum have now been compelled to opt for the humanities, simply because they are not able to catch up after interpretation of their schooling. And, as we all know, the humanities is basically garbage, these days, unless one is also very strong in math and science, and computer information science. Scholarly articles have yet to be written concerning the magnitude of the disruption to our next generation. The loss of continuity in a child's education, combined with uncertainty, takes a toll. You might mistakenly believe that the pandemic is behind us now. However, there are 1.4 billion people in China who might argue differently. In conclusion, I am not above wishing you and everyone a happy 2022 Christmas. And, indeed, I recommend having one, if you can. More realistically, however, I would prefer to hedge on this, and wish everyone a very happy 2025 Christmas. If I were a selfish person, which I an not, then I would be, more or less, content. Reasonably speaking, I have maybe 5 or 10 more years to live, actuarially. Why should I care if your 2035 Christmas is bright? This is the question I have been asking myself. Because, if you don't care, then why should I? I once thought that the human race was something worth saving. Was I mistaken? Maybe we should ask the Chief Twit? Have you ever seen Musk, the Chief Twit, tear up when he speaks of his love of Mankind? It's not that I don't believe that Musk believes he is doing his best to save his beloved Mankind. I just believe that Musk doesn't understand himself well enough to understand his motivations. Sorry. I must suddenly stop here. I just received a call from The White House. It seems their Christmas goose is loose, again. There is really nothing in The White House that Mark Twain could not have fixed. In Thailand, many people are unable to pronounce the word, house. They leave off the se in house. Why Hou?

Sorry. But this topic is not logical. The author of this topic should return to his home country to get free medical care. What might happen if he soon begins to suffer the effects of dementia. Would he even be able to remember how to cash all of his pension checks? Anybody who has a monthly income of 6k should hire an estate planner. What's the big deal, anyway? It's not as if you expect to live another 50 years. My best advice is to go back to work. Employment will lessen the anxiety. Or, just move to New Hampshire and chill. Move to Saipan, maybe. You could live cheaply, do volunteer work, and spend most of your pension on health insurance. On Saipan, health care is not up to the standards of Houston, Texas. In Saipan, it's probably either aspirin or hospice care. You think too much. My advice for you is to buy a pet, either a cat, a dog, or both. Once you begin caring for your pet friends, you will worry less about irrational fears. At your advanced age, USD8,000.00 per month is plenty. If I were you, in all honesty, I would get a long-term super-cheap condo rental on a golf course, some gated community with nice neighbors and no roosters. And then, I would hire someone to teach me how to paint in oil or watercolor. Or move to the East Village and frequent the shops there, gorging on locks and bagels, cream cheese and pizza, and lox. The reason this topic makes no sense is that you have too much money and too much time on your hands after retiring prematurely. Why not go to Columbia, move into the student housing, and begin working towards your PhD? I happen to know that there are chicks on campus, mostly Social Sciences co-eds who love to get it on with men approaching 70. Above all, don't worry too much about what might never happen. Don't fret too much. Don't think too much. It's not you who should be worried. Save your worry for your grandchildren. It is they who face a far stickier wicket up ahead, than ever you met a tough row to hoe. Mark my words, the best laid plans of mice and men should be your watchword, IMHO.

Nova Scotia?

Yale, did you say? What are your thoughts about Yale?

In all fairness, this guy built his cabin himself over a period of three years. Please watch his entire series of videos to get the full story. He is no Sam Bankman-Fried of Palo Alto, by any means.