FolkGuitar

I've noticed that many people 'start' to be old simply because they reached a certain number of years. "Now that I'm XY years old I'm going to give up all my fun, and spend my days in an easy chair with a beer dreaming about the past."

Certainly, physical health plays an increasingly important role in what we can and can not do as we age, but to give up living because we reach a certain age that someone else thought should be the end is foolish!

As Richard Bach said so well in his book; "Defend your limitations, and sure enough, you own them!"

3 hours ago, Woke to Sounds of Horking said:

So sick and tired of this New Age bullship.  Blame the victim?  Heck, why not?

Defend your limitations, and sure enough, you own them.

4 hours ago, BarBoy said:

environment has a lot to do with happiness and contentment, at least for me.

I mean, if one had a choice, one would likely choose to live in a nice big house with a private pool next to a turquoise lagoon, basking in the noon sunshine alongside 5 young thai maidens vs living in a trailer park in Michigan in the middle of winter, with your granny...

No?

Certainly... but that doesn't mean it's going to make you happy.

If your contentment and satisfaction with life are based on anything other than yourself you're in for constant and repeated problems.

It's not as if we haven't discussed this before...

If you want to fix your heart, fix your body. No meds needed.
Stop eating foods that are bad for your heart.

No... it's not easy. It requires self-discipline.

But the difference might just save your life.

With all the road construction going on around the Old City, the traffic congestion could become a real nightmare!

Entire sections are blocked off, exits closed, unpassable surfaces, etc.

But thankfully...

... we can turn on the radio or read the local newspaper to find out which roads are blocked off today so we can avoid adding to the crush by taking alternative routes and not creating traffic jams!

Oh... wait...

I used to think that the Japanese were the professionals at creating 'visual policing without creating change.' I was wrong.
Thailand has so many different 'programs' that ostensibly improve the safety of its citizens without making any real difference! New programs are announced often but are greeted with rolling eyes.

Put some cops on the streets.

I enjoy both cash and cashless, depending on the venue.

I don't live in fear of the government having my data. There really isn't much hidden now from those who wish to know. The government already knows how much money I have, where I travel, and even who I meet. I don't need to hide myself for any other reason than to avoid spam email... and my email client removes most of that!

10 hours ago, ericthai said:

and should we do the same ( since smoking  is an entirely personal choice ) deny any  medical insurance claims with health problems arising from smoking for people that drink Alcohol? what about people that drink too much soda or eat too many snacks and get overweight. Should we hold medial care from them too? 

Perhaps not 'deny' them, but certainly put them at the end of the treatment timeline.  All self-abuse should be identified as such, and be far more costly to treat, maybe even help subsidize costs for those whose health problems were not of their own making.

Unless you have a vagina, you have no say in the matter. Men do not control women's bodies. Women do not need men's  'approval' to do anything.

I won't ride without a helmet, a GOOD full-face helmet with the strap fastened!

We see too many chalk marks on the roads. I can replace a leg, or replace a hand.

I can't replace a head.

... and then he woke up.

I used to be bothered by seeing 75-year-old men pushing a baby carriage with their 18-year-old bride, thinking the baby would not grow up with a father, the mother dealing with raising the child alone...

... Then I remembered 'This is Thailand.' The whole family does the child-rearing, with the parents often away working. That's the norm here, quite different from the US or UK. 

I'm not suggesting it's better or worse, just that this is Thai culture.

I can't imagine trying to do our grocery shopping for the week! Who knows what we'll feel like eating for dinner on Thursday?!?
I enjoy shopping for fresh food every day. Our freezer holds ice cream, ice cubes, a couple of packages of vacuum-packed steaks and chops for emergencies, and perhaps a bag of frozen raspberries. The fridge is half empty.

All the rest of our food is bought fresh daily. Veggies fresh from the talat, meats and seafood from the talat, Makro, and Rimping. I pick up the occasional item at Kasem's Mkt too.

Often on international sales or banking, waiting for a one-time passcode by phone is sometimes a losing proposition! My bank in the US takes about 45 seconds from the time I answer until the voice begins to dictate the code.

Just to cover all bets... Are you a smoker? Cigarettes, pipe, marijuana?

When I was a cigarette smoker, I would get bronchitis once or twice every year. That stopped when I stopped smoking.