GammaGlobulin

OK. But only if you insist. Here is Ibsen speaking, with justified moral rectitude, about your beloved OpenSource Movement:

What is your opinion about Torvald's penchant for working in his pajamas, at home, on the kernel?

Well, since we are already on this morbid topic, then might I make a suggestion? If your "entity" is "literally" sending you large sums of money, just for breathing, as you say, then it is entirely possible to keep you breathing almost indefinitely, using fairly simple modern medical technology. You say that your wife is only 15 years younger than you, correct? Therefore, using today's technology, it should be a very simple matter to keep you breathing for at least 30 years after you have enjoyed your last dose of morphine. And, since you wish to milk this pension check until the "bitter end", as you say, it is entirely possible for you to milk it until, say, maybe, around the year 2080, if you have the required machines and the proper nursing care. For sure, after your last dose of morphine, there is every likelihood that machines can keep you breathing for many years, even unto some future time when, who knows, you might be rejuvenated, if Science wills it. I am sure you will recall the experience of TK who lived 20 YEARS beyond his prime: "In recent years, there has been increasing evidence that the totally brain-dead patient is able to continue to live and to maintain some integrated functions, albeit with the necessary assistance of mechanical ventilation. Several years ago, the autopsy report of a totally brain-dead patient named TK who was kept on life support for nearly twenty years was published in the Journal of Child Neurology. He remains the individual kept on life support the longest after suffering total brain failure. " Therefore, if you really want to continue receiving checks to the bitter end, and if these checks are sizeable checks, then...you can. At least, I hope this is of some solace, and might be positive news for you. You can probably go on breathing and collecting checks, almost as long as you like, at least until the year 2050, if TK is any example. Of course, you may not actually know that you are collecting checks while breathing on a ventilator; only somebody else will know. What is life, anyway? What is gallows humor, for that matter?

Just to refresh your memory about shaking hands and losing fingers, in case you really did not know... It might be an Albanian Proverb: "After shaking hands with a Greek, count your fingers." Certainly, not American in derivation. Regarding your US submarine purchase, these are not 30-year-old nuclear subs. So, best not propagate false rumors. As far as I know, this is US/UK technology. Regarding fast food franchises in Australia, it is not the American food which makes you so fat. Rather, no doubt, it is your overindulgence in drinking Fosters Beer. And, as we all know, Foster's is brewed in Texas. So, every move you make, every breath you take, we'll be watching you, and selling to you. Guys from Australia are just another market to us, really. You will never escape being in our group...

This comes as "no surprise" to me, just to quote you. I think I already mentioned that Washington owns everything from Alaska to Chile, plus the UK, plus Australia, and is now gunning for Africa. This comes as no surprise to anyone. Also, Australia had a contract to buy French subs, but Washington nixed the deal. Now, Australia has US subs. But these subs are also CONTROLLED by Washington. Peter Seller's classic was not the mouse that roared, either. His classic was...

There is really no need to debate the electric power costs. The electric company posts the costs for everyone to see. If you are running a high-efficiency AC, of about 18,000 BTU, then you will probably pay about Bt.4.0 per hour, depending upon insulation and the amount of sunlight which hits your room. An AC with an EER (SEER) of 23 or 24 will use about 1 Kw per hour when running at maximum output. I have paid as much as Bt.8000 per month, for electricity, when I was charged Bt.7 per hour by a guesthouse, and the AC was 20 years old with an EER of about 8.0, and the old AC was putting out about 30,000 BTU. This was the old one which was attached to the ceiling. Still, even with a lousy Guesthouse AC, with an EER of about 11, if you run it 24/7, then you are definitely going to be paying Bt.5000 per month. You can do the math for yourself, if you know how. 1200 watts of juice running 24/7 = 28,8 kWh per day, times 7 = 201 kWh per week. Per month, you get 800 kWh. So, if you are using 800 kWh per month, and you are paying Bt.7 per kWh, then do the math: Bt.5644.00 per month. That's right, my son. Do your arithmetic. Bt.5644.00 per month. But I have paid as much as Bt.8000.00 per month for one lousy guesthouse AC that was so old I could not sleep at night. Stay out of Guesthouses is my advice, My Son. The landlord always takes a cut of everything, not to mention, sometimes, a pound of flesh, too.

One cannot help but ask if Australia is as bad as Australians say. Judging from the comments here, it sounds as if Australia is Hell on Earth. And, if Australia is Hell on Earth, which I doubt, then is Australia a democratic country? If Australia is a democratic country, then why not vote for change? Because, it seems from the comments that half the people in Australia are living a wonderful life without working, being given plentiful handouts from the government. And, another major sector of the population are extremely hard workers, but cannot afford steak. And then, there are the politicians who do not serve the people, yet cannot be voted out of office. Has anyone ever read Candide? If so, is there no Voltaire of Australia who can write a new Australian Candide Satire? I have never, ever, read comments by a People who were so disgruntled about the state of their country, nor a People who wished to be able to ride in taxis for free and eat cake, such as I have read in this interesting Topic. I do not doubt that Australia is as bad as Australians say, if they say that it is. I just feel sorry that Australia has come to this state of affairs, if it has. Maybe, America should provide more aid to Australia. With only a population of 27 million, America could double Australians' income with a flick of a pen. Just say the word. Two Trillion in foreign aid for Australians to eat steak every day, and ride in taxis subsidized by the US government. We do not want Australians to be too dissatisfied with their lives. We need allies. We are willing to extend hands across the sea. Our Australian friends are crying out for more low-cost beef steaks. Somebody needs to buy beef from Venezuela and flood the Australian market with it. Everybody should be able to eat steak if they want it.

Not worse. It is better. More rain here, this year, where I am. I find myself thankful for it.

What are you using to keep cool in the Hot Season? A Punkah-Wallah? One AC eats up more than BT.1500 per month, per person, in most cases, minimum, and I would say that Bt.5000 per month would not be unusual, for energy expenditure for a single person...for sure. Unless, you got your own Punkah Man....that is. Let's be practical.

Dear Friends, This year, or is it just my imagination, we are witnessing a particularly wet raining season, this 2022. This year, perhaps due to the pandemic, I have very much welcomed the rain. When I hear the sound of the rain beating down around me, it's as if the heavens are trying to wash away the troubles of the world. I am not sure how much more rain we might need to wash away ALL of our troubles, but I just hope that these rains might never end. So, I do not wish to say much more about rain, or rain water, or even branch water. All I have to say is that, just the sound of the rain, especially this year, has provided me with great comfort. Great comfort, indeed. I am sure that there are those who read these words who feel exactly as I. Therefore, do you not doubt that you will not feel some nostalgia for these abundant rains, almost daily rains, we are now experiencing, in coming years, as you recall our trials and tribulations of the past two years? Will it not be these rains of 2022 which you will recall so vividly, as water portending our salvation? I know that I will remember these rains, this Raining Season, of 2022, as long as I live. I just feel that these rains, if they continue throughout October, maybe even until November, will be enough to wash away almost everything negative that has happened during the past two years, since January of 2020. The sound of heavy rain has always been comforting to me. This is one of the main reasons I have chosen to live in wet climates. Let us be ultimately thankful for the rain, this year. Even if the abundant rains this year turn out to be the only gift we have to be thankful for, in 2022, still, these almost never-ending rains, this fine raining season, just might be enough to get us through to 2023, a year of great portent for many of us. Best Regards, Gamma G.

If I were able to afford cognac, chocolates, and tarts, I might be willing to go on living.

As I KNOW you know.... Double negatives, triple negatives, and even quadruple negatives are the spice of life for any serious writer of English. You say you are a writer? And yet, you fear just a simple double negative??? Where would we be without them, anyway? Double negatives is what makes English ENGLISH! Double negatives, for that matter, is what makes Chinese CHINESE! I once enjoyed a two-semester course in Formal Logic. We learned about how to negate a negative, five times, in just one symbolic utterance. Sometimes, just for fun, after class, we would say things like this: "Every anarchist is a believer in free love. Some members of the government party are anarchists. ∴ Some members of the government party are believers in free love." Can you give me a good example of a quadruple-negative, in just one sentence, that makes sense, Sir? Or, are you still too fearful to do so? Please refer to this link: https://philoslife.wordpress.com/2017/05/22/course-note-symbolic-logic-uses/ (In fact, for sure, the study of Formal Logic is a salve to the troubled soul. And, very logical.)

I would have thought that what you have redundantly pointed out in your comment has already been crystal clear to most of us since we first read this topic. What more is there to say, anyway?

Which hospital? Or, were you born at home? Bryn Mawr Hospital, or Lankenau? On the Paoli Local? Who cares what percentage of Americans can afford what, anyway? We were not born here to be Utopians or Marxists, I would think. It's just not in our nature. So, anyway, at which hospital were your born? Fair question, since you mentioned it first.

Well, actually, we can speak about chlorophyll being photosynthetically active at various ranges of radiation. And therefore, this adverb is a valid adverb. However, if one were to say that one is photosynthetical, then one would just assume one might be speaking about his love of a green plant of some sort. Although, I doubt that many people use this adjective. I have never heard of anyone referring to a person as being photosynthetical, except, maybe.... Are you a green plant? Do you convert sunlight into usable energy? Or, are you the type of person having mitochondria in your cells, rather than chlorophyll? By the way, I guess you might recall that..... MITOCHONDRIA are the POWERHOUSES of the Cell!!!! ((How many times have you heard this phrase, "the powerhouse of the cell"?)) If I hear this phrase, powerhouse of the cell, one more time,.... Then....

Living in America....just.... Feels so Good.... You know? ONLY in America. America is the Sex Machine. America has Soul. No other country has Soul.

Back to the Topic of Living in America...

There is one other place, of similar stature, also small, that I really like, which I, of course, have never been to... Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club. Anyway, I once lived about 15 minutes from the Main Point, but now I regret not having attended the many shows, more often, while it was just almost in my neighborhood. This is really one thing I regret, now that you mention it. Take care! (In Our Present Climate of Fame: You would never get a top performer to play in such a place as The Main Point, these days. This was a thing of a long-gone era, maybe.)

Hey Man! I KNOW the one you are talking about!!!! It was called... THE MAIN POINT... Right??? Yes. Great venue. Very, very small, and only about 75 people MAX. I saw a few guys there. Jim Croce, for one. Randy Newman, for two. The Main Point in Bryn Mawr was AMAZING! They had these old tables where people would sit and do nothing but listen to great music, UP CLOSE. I KNOW the one you are talking about. Not the Main Line....but....THE MAIN POINT, Man! Thank you, so much, for mentioning this place. I am not sure if this place is still in existence, but it CANNOT be the same as it once was. Fantastical place, in fact. Take care!

And, in addition to stooping at the ATM, If you are able to simultaneously shtupp at the ATM, Then, you will find that life here is even less boring than you ever imagined. And you will leave the ATM a very happy bank customer.

There is something very amiss with this OP's Topic, obviously. Especially if he might be an Australian. What I mean is this: aa. Australians are always complaining about how BORING their country is. bb. Then, Australians come to Thailand where things are not boring. cc. Then, they forget their complaining about being bored in Australia. dd. And then, they begin to complain about the unexpected, here in Thailand, where everywhere you go there is the unexpected. I have only one thing to say to these bored Australians: She refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn't boring.... In fact....One might ask the question: How can a girl say again, “I do not want to be respectable because respectable girls are not attractive,” and how can she again so wisely arrive at the knowledge that “boys do dance most with the girls they kiss most,” and that “men will marry the girls they could kiss before they had asked papa?” Perceiving these things, the Flapper awoke from her lethargy of sub-deb-ism, bobbed her hair, put on her choicest pair of earrings and a great deal of audacity and rouge and went into the battle. She flirted because it was fun to flirt and wore a one-piece bathing suit because she had a good figure, she covered her face with powder and paint because she didn’t need it and she refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn’t boring. She was conscious that the things she did were the things she had always wanted to do. Mothers disapproved of their sons taking the Flapper to dances, to teas, to swim and most of all to heart. She had mostly masculine friends, but youth does not need friends – it needs only crowds … — from “Eulogy on the Flapper”, by Zelda Fitzgerald because she wasn't boring. Enjoy, my friends! Zelda was amazing. F. Scott Fitzgerald, was amazing. Don't be bored with what you find in Thailand, My friends. Consider yourselves lucky anytime you need to stoop to enter an ATM.... You are LUCKY!

CITIBANK NYC....

Photosynthetical, you mean? You write photosynthetically; you sound photosynthetical. Obviously, you do. (The word photosynthetically is a valid adverb. However, the word photosynthetical is a new one left up to your imagination.)

You are absolutely correct. Are you a beer chemist?

Lightning Over SE Asia from the ISS .... Enjoy!