GammaGlobulin

Who was Dana? If you have just one adventurous academic bone in your body, and a curiosity for the Pacific, then read this book: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4277 Maybe you might be someone like the Farang farmer in Isan with nothing better to do. Or, you might be some guy on an island wilting away in the heat. Dana, of Harvard, wrote a masterpiece while still a student, rounding the Horn, chipping ice off the decks with a sledge hammer. This is just my single best gift to the Farang Pub. I have nothing further (of value) to give.

No doubt, never a truer word has anyone spoken. You are blessed. Therefore, continue to enjoy your blessings.

My Dear Friends, Anyone who came to Thailand, or SE Asia, years ago, probably has also read Slocum and Dana....right? Maybe one had also read Conrad and other authors when one was a young boy. But, reading a book is not like seeing a storm, first hand, while Rounding the Horn. Here is a video of Rounding the Horn on the good ship Peking. Maybe, this is why YouTube can sometimes, though rarely, be a very good thing. The narration by Capt. Irving Johnson is most humorous, especially describing the ship's dog. This is my gift to this Farang Pub, for now.... May you enjoy it if you will. I am sure that no one here can or would say anything against it. Best regards, Globobulin Best to all..... Sailing is tough. Not to mention...life.

By the way...speaking of the use of pronouns... The Chinese have it good, because.... The Chinese speakers have it easy. TA = he, she, it TAMEN = they, them You don't need to remember almost nothing. English is an exceedingly difficult language. Yet, my Chinese students are the best in the world. ====== Americans, I have noticed, have almost completely given up on proper usage of pronouns. "Me and her gonna get high, high on Friday", for example. Dig it, Man.... Dig the pronouns....

More from Sidney Viscous! (sp) My misspellings have always been a source of embarrassment to me. Too late, now.

Nobody speaks and writes English better than the guys from the UK. Unfortunately, maybe, after the colonists in the colonies, who were originally born in the UK, died off, then we were left with so-called Melting Pot speakers of English. Melting Pot English is not the real deal. Add to this the recent assault on the English language by YouTubers that have a wide audience. And this is why we can soon say Bye Bye to English as we once knew it. On YouTube, there is no such thing as the proper use of pronouns. English is evolving rapidly now. In Singapore, for example, English is nothing more than a mishmash of gibberish. Wave on!

I have already outlived this pelican.... Love pelicans!

Due to my perennially poor spelling, not to mention shoddy grammar, let me add this glossary for reading of the above topic: Glossary --- setpoint: In control applications a setpoint is the target value at which a controller attempts to maintain the process variable. This also applies to describing an emotional setpoint. set point: Set point refers to the name of the last point that could occur in a set, which could occur many times during a match. If a server is winning a set 5-3 and the score of the final game is 40-30, the next point would be referred to as the set point. Love Fifteen: This was once a tennis term which has other meanings in Pattaya. Viscious VS Viscous: This is a word which is not recognized by the spelling-correction algorithm supplied by this forum software, at least judging from my personal experience. Viscous, they have. Viscious, is a word unknown to the spelling-correction algorithm. Sid Vicious:

Yes. A logical contradiction. Nothing about human behavior is logical. Perception has little to do with reality, as well.

Did you notice that I, above, wrote: viscous cycle... INSTEAD of.... vicious cycle.... So, then...why did you not call me out on this glaring error???? Wish you had... Best regards, Glob

As an aside to the original post: One might add that here is, basically, a diagram of the Pattaya-type Hedonic Treadmill... Therefore, perhaps... While you might give up one or another hedonic cycles when you leave the West, ... Yet, if you come to Thailand, and if you are not careful.... Then you might become enmeshed in another viscous cycle, worse than what you had left. No matter where we go, So apparently, We are just lab rats in a Skinner box, In the end. Until the end, of course.

If you want kissing... Please return to where you came from. Everybody knows about this. This is just too intimate of a subject to write much about here.

My Dear Friends, What is your set point of happiness? High or Low...? And, since moving to Thailand, has your set point been reset? Here is a link for you about set points and the hedonic treadmill. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill Personally, I do believe in my hedonic setpoint. Mostly, it stays just about the same, in Thailand. I think we need more research to define more clearly why some people are happier, no matter what their circumstances. Also, why, for example, do people smile less now than they once did? Regards, Gobby Please Note: Let us next discuss the paradox of hedonism, which is sure to be a hot topic in Pattaya.

Dear Friends, Nostalgically speaking, Hawaii was once the epitome of romance and luxury, sort of an exotic dream for many, a place of pineapples and volcanoes and missionaries. These days, you can go anywhere you like by hopping on a jet plane. Therefore, why do you choose to live in Thailand rather than to live in Hawaii? Is it the present-day culture of America that causes you to steer clear of these magnificent volcanic islands? Or, is it the culture of Thailand and the SE Asian food that keeps you here in one of the longest countries, north to south, on Earth? Thailand, these days, is not the same as it once was, 50 years ago, and therefore, much of the allure of Thailand has become diluted due to ever-intruding influences from the West. If Thailand, as is true of other countries, is becoming evermore westernized, then why not just live in Hawaii, an equally exotic place, at one time, which has now become totally taken over by western culture? As you can see... The guys above are very western. BUT, in Hawaii, the food is terrible. By contrast, the food in Thailand is AMAZING! And so, my friends.... In my opinion, one should come to Thailand, instead of Hawaii, if one wishes to witness a still-vibrant culture with amazing food from all around the world, a gastronomic delight, and an amalgam of all possible flavors and spices. What is your opinion, comparing Hawaii to Thailand? Is it not like comparing Pablum to Stir-fried Pumpkin? Even the lowliest dish in Thailand is worth two conch-shell-blowing guys in Hawaii. If you love Thai food as much as I do, Then, leaving Thailand is unthinkable. There are many other reasons why Thailand is far better than Hawaii, except maybe for just a short island hop. What are they? Other than the weather? Regards, GammaGlobbulin (sp)

Dear Friends, I am thinking of doing two things this year. a. I will read and record a book that I like, long past the copyright, from The Gutenberg Project: https://www.gutenberg.org/ b. I will begin to help a few deserving students from China with "accent reduction" in order to improve their spoken English-language intelligibility, via the internet. The most important tool I will need is a very decent microphone. Microphones have become cheaper and cheaper, maybe due to the progress of the technology. And, as we know, maybe this new tech has something to do with rare-earth magnets, for sure. So, are there any guys here who might suggest the best mic for this very moderate budget of less than USD125.00? I think it is best to post this topic in the Farang Pub. Why? The Farang Pub is where you will find people who are both intelligent and experienced. Also, there is no doubt that there are plenty of guys here, in the Farang Pub, who have written books and recorded them. As well, people here have probably been in the same boat as I, needing a very good, almost studio-quality mic, at a reasonable cost. Of course, I know about the Snow Ball, as do you. But, although the Snowball was great, almost 10 years ago.....yet, shouldn't there be something much better, these days? The main point is that I need a mic which will capture ever breath I take, and every mistake I make. I am now using a Logitech top of the line webcam...for recording audio. However, this solution is not adequate from an audio perspective. I bet that others here might be looking for a solution to this same problem. Just in case you know.... Let us know. Thank you. Regards, Gamma

My Dear Friends, Or, might I say, my "older" friends: One thing you must have noticed, as you age, is the fact that, as we age, due to hormonal changes, women become men, and men become women. As for me, I have always loved dating women, and have never dated men. Therefore, now, as I age, the women I meet, the women my age, and the women who have seemingly, through natural processes, become men, due to age, are no longer appetizing to me. You could not pay me enough to date them...No Way! And, likewise, there are very few women, of my age, who would be paid for dating men, in Pattaya, although, maybe, there must be a few, since the law of probability states that nothing ever has a zero chance of happening. Anyway, I am just wondering about how you see it. How are you able to date women your own age, after you reach my age. Is this not just something so repugnant to you that you would never, ever, attempt it? I find dating women my own age as something like climbing Mt. Everest...just something that I would never wish to do, and never would attempt. Therefore, as you can plainly see, I prefer to be celibate, rather than to fool around with young women, and rather than to force myself to have older women, because.... Having an older woman of my age makes me think of being forced to eat shredded wheat cereal, in the mornings, when I was young... Sure, it might be good for you. But, eating shredded wheat cereal in the mornings, when one is young, is just something that no one would chose to do. So very unappetizing. I have no doubt that many of you, if you are my age, or if you will soon be my age, must or will feel exactly the same as I. Not even one of us, as is my guess, would gladly date a very old dried up prune, and a masculine prune, at that, when one would prefer some younger woman full of life and juices. Therefore, I guess, my sex life is now over. I would not foist myself upon younger women, even for money. And this, my friends, is why I choose to remain celibate, and alone, though not lonely, indeed. Best regards, Globby Note: I know you know that I am not wrong

Dear Friends, Ever since the virus hit us, March 2020, I had, and still have, been wanting to buy canned vegetables, including canned black beans, and canned tomatoes, canned green peas, and maybe even canned artichoke hearts. In my home country, placing an order for such things would have been easy. However, here in Thailand, ordering directly from the wholesaler seems difficult. And, from my experience, the same is true of the situation in Japan, meaning ordering like this in Japan is no different than here in Thailand. The common man is unable to order directly from the wholesaler or importer. One must buy from a retailer, and the retailer often does not have either the necessary selection nor the quantity required. Maybe I am wrong? No. I am not wrong. Here is what I would like to buy, in bulk, for example, and just an example: Also, I would like to buy 30 cans of black beans, something that I have not yet found in Thailand, so far, but which are ubiquitous in Mexico. ===== So, my only question is.... Is there a "one-stop" shop here in Thailand where one can easily order these canned goods? And, will the same shop provide a very decent price? I mean a decent price for a fairly substantial order...let's say a minimum order of 250 cans of various canned goods? I expect a discounted price for a high quantity order. I have no doubt that others, just like me, are wondering the same thing: Where to find a good source of canned goods. If we found this good source, then would we not become repeat buyers, for years? I am not a prepper. I just want to find a good source of canned goods. I know that someone in the Farang Pub knows the answer to this question. Thank you. Globule