Prubangboy

It's a kind of craziness that never quite goes away, the wrapping yourself in a stupid flag-thing. I view all flag-heads as dunderheads that must be avoided. It's always the righties who are getting emotional about this nonsense. I was making fun of some crybaby here recently who had worked himself into a comical lather about abstract possible flag-burning, that may or may not be happening -and that he had never personally witnessed. It's just more amped-up fake rage. My advice: generate some endorphins a different way, retards. You don't have to be a dopey carp listlessly leaping into the net at every algorithm provocation.

This. I like things spartan, she imported her vintage Jim Thompson throw pillow-cover collection. It's a nice place to visit, but....... Past 60, I'd say most women want less testosterone in their lives. It's either force the fit, retreat down the hall, or burn it down to the ground with mounting resentment on both sides. I can see myself ending up having breakfast with her and dinner with an understanding, younger girlfriend. We've already had that talk. I'm in no hurry to get to that outcome. Humorous side point: Tinder has a friend section. She posted on it looking for female friends. She got 55 white male responses (no female ones). Even at 61, a good-looking western women still has more options than a western man, even here. Like myself, many men here would prefer a western woman partner, if they could get one.

Please don't post in my other thread.

This exchange would be a great example of what I am talking about in the attention-span-is -gone-for-good thread. Nobody is talking about traveling when old now, or even breakfast-making. It's just what about meeeee?

This. We enjoy all the benefits of Thailand -cheap-everything, access to women, freedom, no traditional hang-ups- without the downside. And then we can select Thai friends and partners that are comfortable/amenable with that. Amateur demographer, Mike Lister, puts the expat population at about 200,000, so a third of a percent of the total population. Unless you're in one of six places where westerners congregate, Thai's haven't met enough westerners to have much more than a very superficial opinion about us. I think they see us as giant, spoiled babies: we need special food, to have everything done for us, can't even communicate.

The book was interesting in that it presented a world-picture where attention is compromised on many fronts. Most people are sleep deprived, over-worked, under money-stress, eating badly, and even suffering some mental impairment due to pollution. They may have been misdiagnosed as ADHD in childhood and further impaired by Ritalin. Individual choices like you suggest are what this thread is about. Seeing this era of lower concentration as systemic is also useful. Caveat: It's by a Guardian star journalist. So it def has a liberal/socialist tilt towards state solutions and favoring lower economic growth. I don't see these idea's as workable. Attention is like muscle. Use it or lose it.

Read Stolen Focus on the train down from CM. It's about how attention and sustained concentration is under assault from everything from the internet to bad diet. How's your focus these days? Do you still read books? Do you do anything intentional to improve it? Me: 3 times a day meditator, gave up weed, read 2 books a week. I def see attention slippage all around me. Here too. People seem to just get stuck on a point and unable respond to a response. Stress and anger also kills coherency. That's why I no longer participate in Trump debates beyond tossing in a joke or two if I have some good ones. People are just talking past each other. They are physically incapable of mere listening.

When you travel solo, you want a few more creature comforts and familiarity. And if it's your first trip, after your wife died? Maybe more so. I'll def be hitting the semi-famous street Pad Guy on Soi 11 the day after the curry meal. I no longer feel like I have to pretend to go native like back in the Lonely Planet era. I eat Thai food about half the time, so above average for a longterm expat. And Thai people love KFC. It's a crazy, mixed-up ol' world. Why be self-limiting when Thai people aren't?

I am in Ayutthaya right now and it's def a bit of a dull dump, outside the ruins. And that's staying at a 5* SALA hotel. Nice giant river prawns. Must to avoid. Another suggestion is to stay near an English/Irish pub in Bangkok, partic as an older, solo traveler. It's good to have a check-in spot and they will tend to have some social stuff like quiz nights. The one 2 minutes away from The Miami Hotel is exemplary. You can even order in an English-style curry from the place next door. I have a lot of 5* restaurants to check off my list during this Bangkok go-round, but I will def make room for a Madras curry and a Guinness at the bar.

I am perfectly capable of putting peanut butter or cheddar cheese on two slices of bread and kettling up a green tea. But usually, I go down the hall to my wife's apartment where she puts a scrambled egg and some avocado slices on some toast and I drink a filter coffee. I have a Netspresso and plenty of 28 baht coffee pods, but I have yet to plug it in. Maybe if she comes over, but why would she? I tried to give it to her. She prefers the pour over ritual. It's great to live, as if on a cruise ship, in a tiny, easy to keep clean space in happenin' Nimman, Chiang Mai; to have no stuff beyond a dozen La Coste polo shirts and a small Marshall bluetooth speaker. I can hop on one foot to six great restaurants for dinner. I still own a 5 bedroom house back in the states that's now an air bnb. The relief of being free of all that stuff is tremendous. I am glad that fave poster-Jim is enjoying the heady luxury of a houseplant, but when people are derogatory about tiny apartments, I feel sorry for them. They don't know what they're missing. It's just a cheap shot by no insult-game losers.

I'm just not seeing the small condo-problem. I eat all but breakfast out and I spend 95% of my condo-time lying in the king-sized bed. How would more square footage build my self-esteem?

Buddha said: "To acquaint the heart with wisdom." -Either you get it or you don't.

I have the exercise bands and do a few pushups and planks. I'll be adrift in Bangkok soon. 20 days 7 neighborhoods. Some days 'llI do a meetup, but mostly I'm on my routine of exercise and walkabout in the morning, meditation and writing in the afternoon, socializing or a well thought out dinner plan. Grab Cab revolutionized travel for me, more than the internet. And I'm taking the train down from Chiang Mai. The last travel I sort of trained for was to see the Tiger Temple in Bhutan. A two hour slog at a steep angle. Not much inside the Tiger Temple, if you're on the fence about it.

Itinerary-wise, I'd toss in a few days in Old City Chiang Mai and a trip to the beach. I favor Koh Samui. To me, Hua Hin was Hua-Dull. 'Lost my wife way back when and came to Thailand for healing. This place will uplift you. If you make it up to Chiang Mai, toss me a message and I'll take you out for some 99 baht Khao Soi noodles.

Miami Hotel -10 minutes walk to Terminal 21. 5 minute walk to the SkyTrain. Too many restaurants to pick from 2 minutes away (partic if you like Indian). Older property seen in a couple of films, great value. Great staff who will chat with an older solo traveler.

He'll have to beg Di Santis for a waiver to vote in Florida as a felon.

Supreme Court Justice Alito requested that all upside down American flags be flown at half mast.

If you're a robot, why do you want to improve your human relationship? That's some pretty slip shod robot-ing.

Thoughts on my sitch. I remit $60K a year here. It's all dividend income, taxed at 15% in America. Thailand also has a 15% dividend rate. You can pay it as a flat withholding tax here, separate from the progressive income tax. After I pay Thailand their 15% ($9K), that payment can be used as a tax credit applied to my US taxes. This is per a US/Thailand tax treaty agreement (your home country may differ). I give Thailand $9K (15%), and then later I get a $9K rebate on my US taxes. Key point: It's the USA that give you the tax rebate, not anything having to do with Thai tax law. Thailand can tax whatever they like, it's your home country that will offset it, assuming their tax treaty says so. A Thai working in the states is on the opposite end of the same deal: He pays the USA first, and then he gets a rebate from his home country. My total tax increase is zero. Meanwhile, living in paradise, I am dodging state income tax back home. Finicky is asking about capital gains from selling stocks. Both countries have the same rate of 15% and the same double taxation agreement that allows you to deduct your Thailand payments from your USA tax bill. Interest payments -same deal here: 15%, same USA tax deduction. Problem for Me and for Thailand: Past the rebate threshold, I will now want to remit less money to Thailand. It will just pile up back in the states. There's only so many vacations outside of Thailand where I might spend it. If buy a nice watch or a MacBook, that's now much more likely to happen overseas.

What kind of drunken Chav life is this, following me around, sniffing my old man butt? Please, have some self-respect.

Most pathetically passive-aggressive impotent swipe ever. I sense the stench of the English. Crystal Gong show was only 300 baht, in your terms, the same as a lady drink. Don't postpone joy. Bang a gong. Get it on.

Nah, I like posts with prices. My eating out is no personal diss on you. Some people come here to get laid. I got laid at home. We came here to eat. Whatever your $$$-deal is, I hope you like it. But there are other legs to hump here like a demented German Shepard. Don't feel like you have to keep on humping mine.

I said what I did. I didn't say what you should do. How 'bout a nice rubber beer cozy to keep that Chang cold?

I did Qi Gong and the gym 2 days in a row, one after another. The Qi Gong def revs me up for the weights, but a lie-down afterwards is necessary. I read 2 self-published books by a guy who floats down various Thai rivers -pretty good. I just bought the biggest Marshall blue tooth speaker, so I've hitting the Blue Note Jazz label Ballard playlists hard. Food-wise, my wife is back from her Bluegrass Festival in the Blue Ridges and installing a hot tub in our AirBnb (already upping our bookings), so she's been hungry for our favorites. I ordered in a big mezz platter from always stellar Hummus Chiang, Mai for her return We also ordered in 200 baht pad from Ging Grie, our all-time fave Thai place around the corner (soon to be Michelin'd); also Tom Young Goon, stinky Issan somtam, and an order of black sticky rice -pretty much our go-to order. I took some grief here for eating 200 baht pad thai, but it's by far the best I ever had. It's reference-pad thai. We went out to Sushi Umai, which tops every Chiang Mai sushi listing (a deal for the quality) and to a new a/c cafe 90 baht place called JEAB, 500 steps away. It's only a little bit less good than Ging Grie. Sunday, we'll splurge on oysters at Mer by the Ping River -1,500 baht a dozen, but they are monsters. I really missed her, so we've been staring at each other hard for days. I went to a new-agey crystal bowl and gong concert today -if you can call an event where you lie down on a mat and let the vibes wash over you a concert. Prob a one and done. I really wished I hadn't quit weed. Lovely people, will def go back for a workshop or something. Tomorrow, we're going to Church. She wants to meet other older white women. I told her, you gotta fish where the fish are. It's a very liberal, inter-donominational church, so prob not too bad. And it's near the oysters.

They may have moved on. They were saying as much last year. I live hopping distance away, so I'll have look-in for you. But yeah, lovely and a bargain. Beautiful, very quiet soi to stay on. My own weekend thread has some Nimman Recco's. We eat out/order in every single meal from within a 5 minute walk of soi 15.