bobbin

If the helmet is old enough that the strap is worn-out, it's time to buy a new one..

And you have heard the old saying.. if you have a $10 head, buy a $10 helmet..

Well..is the partial loss of vision now permanent or did it come and go?

In early January I developed a case of sinusitis, for the first time in my life. Ears "popping" being the main symptom. I had thought it a cold but it didn't go away. Then i started to get a strange symptom. My eyelids started fluttering. Not constantly but regularly. About 2 months later, as I was sitting on my balcony, I experienced the total loss of vision in my right eye. Process took 10-15 seconds. And I ended up with a silvery color not total blackness. It lasted about 3 minutes, long enough to go from "what's happening to Holy S**t!".

I had a brief sit-down and then, feeling fine, walked to the local pharmacy where they have a BP machine. I was thinking stroke? Perfectly normal results.

A couple of days later I was talking to my brother in Canada and told him about that strange experience. A short time after hanging up, I received an email from his wife. She has just retired from a Nursing career, much of it spent in ER Dept.  She said that my experience was not uncommon for Migraine sufferers. I don't get migraines but Google had informed me about optic nerves. I now believe the congestion in my sinus area had caused the pressure on the optic nerve. As the case of sinusitis went away, so did the eyelid fluttering. And no re-occurrence of vision loss.

14 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

 

Because the interest from the sinking fund is income and not part of the sinking fund. The sinking fund has a fixed value that was decided when the building was declared a condominium. Assuming that the amount of the sinking fund has never been increased by co-owner vote then once it is at 100% of the original value that is as far as it should go. If the sinking fund is used to pay for some sort of expense then the shortfall should be made up again either out of current account revenue (which would include the interest from the sinking fund) or some sort of levy on co-owners, all depending on the amounts involved.

This is interesting. So it was decided at the beginning. You have to wonder though, why do it like that? It seems obvious, when planning a contingency fund for a building that will stand for many decades, that the very least you should do is allow the fund to grow from compound interest.

Leaving aside the issue of either raising common fees or requesting a special levy for a particular project i.e. repainting the building or replacing lifts. The 2 biggies.

10 minutes ago, inThailand said:

I would add that it's quite normal here but not advised for condo mgmt to "borrow" money from the capital expenditure fund (sinking fund) to fund operations (common area fund) and to mix and reports these two distinct expenses together. Separate CA and SF budgets, accounting, reporting and even bank accounts can help assess management performance. Accountability is viewed by mgmt as a four letter word.

As i said in my first post, the financials look okay. The Sinking Fund has a reasonable balance and has been the same for several years. Strange in itself though. Rather than let the interest on the SF compound, they have been drawing it off into general revenue. Why? The General Account has a nice balance and we could easily spend 20% of it and fund many projects.

Come on guys.. please don't destroy my idealism! 

Seriously though..  I did ask for your opinions and I'm reading your responses avidly.

There have been mutterings of resignation from my fellow farang board member already, due to the lethargic response to our input so far. Personally, I'm willing to allow for a period of transition. As I said, we are learning the ropes about the process of getting the input from us translated into results.

We co-owners have been saying for years now that if only we had a resident owners board we would see the results. So it's kind of a "put up or shut up" situation now.

We have copies of the 2008 Condominium law and also copies of our buildings bylaws. After 15 years in the building, this was the first time I had ever seen the bylaws. Oh, the violations! Too many to mention.. There will be some unhappy co-owners when we move to rectify some of the most outrageous. Many we will probably ignore due to "grandfathering" but going forward those same violation will not be allowed. I know, double standards, but most co-owners won't know that.

Unless I'm mistaken, moving to a management model from an in-house model will result in all staff, including the JM being let go. It would cost a lot of money due to compensation, not to mention ill-will and hardship for the current staff.  There is one employee in particular though that I would not mind seeing dismissed. One of those "phantom employees". A vague job description and very little visible productivity.  Always hiding. But expensive to terminate...

3 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

Stories abound regarding these committees.  Some pretty bad.  Not sure how big your building is, but you might want to consider insurance for the members to cover yourselves in case of lawsuits.  It happens.  All too frequently.

 

Good luck!

Seriously?

Thanks for the comments so far..

I'm also wondering about the nuts and bolts of the position. I keep wanting to write "job" and "work". 555.

As I said, we have a reasonably extensive to-do list after looking around. We have had one formal meeting after the election. The agenda was compiled by the Juristic Manager and basically consisted of approving the minutes of the last committee's last meeting. Of course it was not supplied but we approved it anyway. None of the items we had already identified was discussed in more than a passing manner. But we realized that we must control the agenda from now on.

Surely though, we don't have to wait until the next scheduled meeting to instruct the JM to get started on on the identified projects, do we? Verbal instructions to the JM are seen as "suggestions", so we intend to instruct in written form, signed by the 3 of us from now on..

Again, some lapses are surprising. We had an extensive cctv system installed a few years ago. After an incident in the parking area I asked to review the footage. Oh! The recording function does not work. Unless something is witnessed in real time, there is no record. I asked at a shop what was the cost of a new cctv dvr. Approximately 4000 baht for a 4 channel unit. For want of a nail, the shoe was lost... But I have to say, after reading numerous news items where the cctv cameras were "out of order", I wasn't that surprised.

What have been some of your experiences in getting your instructions transformed into action. Do we give a timetable for feedback and progress reports?

I have a feeling that fire escape systems and stairwells are going to be well discussed over the next few weeks..

Our committee is new. Less than 2 months into our 2 year term. We are only 3 members, 1 Thai with a good command of English, and 2 farangs. For many years our former committee members were all non-resident in Pattaya, basically appearing only for the AGM. That changed this year when applications for people who actually lived in the building to apply to join the committee were encouraged. Not well enough to get a great deal of interest though.. It was a complete change-over. All the previous members were well into the status of continuing to serve as there were no applicants for the positions in the past.

 It's not a horror story. The financials look fine. AGM's were well managed. But it's a different culture in the building now. We committee members are in the building every day now, not once or twice a year, when the previous members got a great show of deference and respect.

We have many things on our to-do list, prioritized as best we can, in terms of importance and costs. Many are low cost but labor intensive. Shock! We are actually going to ask the staff to work productively instead of going through the motions. To say there has been a lot of foot-dragging would be fair... Time frames seem quite elastic.

Some things are surprising. We don't (at this point) employ a management company. But office staff profess inexperience and lack of contacts when asked to find outside contractors for work or estimates, considerably slowing the process. The Juristic Manager is cooperative but..

I know several posters are serving or have served on Co-owners committees, so I wanted to ask.. If you were to write a short explanation of what it's like to serve in this capacity, what would you say? The general experience of it. For example, how aggressive, short of a re-paint, should we be about the external and internal  "beautification" of the condo... what percentage, taking into consideration cash-flow, of the general account( not the sinking fund) should we be thinking of spending.. Tips on finding good contractors...Things like that.

The good thing is with only 3 of us, there is not much disagreement.

I just made an appointment to have the passenger side airbag replaced on my 2014 Mazda 2.  Mazda announced the recall in Thailand about 3 months ago but I have not received any notification from Mazda yet.

They checked the VIN and confirmed my car was affected. But "no stock" until the end of the month. Told me that it would take about an hour.

On 6/4/2017 at 10:26 PM, dddave said:

 I tried using Google launcher rather than MIUI and again, every time I'd open the phone, I'd have to tick a selection window which launcher to use...I've never been able to get it to default to Google launcher.  I think there is a way but the path is quite complex.

 go settings/home screen/set default launcher/select Google launcher

next time you press home button it will ask you select launcher. press "remember my choice" before you select Google launcher.  I switch back and forth every so often, though I'm much more familiar with Google.

3 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

 All he needed to do was to spend $300,000 a year on a hooker budget. He could have had the finest escorts, in any city he visited, and had absolute discretion, with no threat to the well being of his family, his sponsors, or his career.

 

I have a friend who knows Tiger. He says he is basically a nice guy (if you overlook the way he treated these gals he wined and dined and dumped), but the cheapest man he has ever known. He said the reason he is not more careful, or discreet, is due to how pathologically cheap he is. He refuses to pay for it. He will barely leave a tip, for a $1,000 meal with friends. So, instead of paying out $3 million, over the course of ten years, he has paid out $250 million for a divorce settlement, and lost over a billion dollars in endorsements. Smart. What can one day about this guy?

I have read about the cheap charlie allegations. I've also read that he is surprisingly well-liked in the locker-room.

Somebody, or many somebodies, must have told him to do exactly what you have said. It's the "professional" way to handle these desires.

But.. I have known men less wealthy who make the same mistake. They want to feel admired and attractive. Dare I say it, even loved. This is so definitely not the way to do it when you have a wife and children. And a high, very high, profile.

A very expensive life lesson...

All that money and he doesn't have a driver/bodyguard?

Neanderthal..

Stabs 3 men trying to protect the women from harassment. Which we are taught is noble and a good thing.

Kills 2 of them. Worthy of death penalty

22 minutes ago, gmac said:

It's not the 'surprise' of having to stop at a red traffic light that irritates it's the fact that they insist on running all four directions independently and on quieter junctions there is often an occasion when there is no traffic at all from some directions but they still get their full quota of the green light.  On a hot sunny day, of which there are quite a few in Thailand, sitting stationary on a bike in full sun unnecessarily for 2 minutes or so is decidedly unpleasant.  

 

A pity that you don't understand the simple concept of giving way to traffic already on a roundabout, I'm sure even the much maligned Thais could work it out if there were a few more around for them to practise on.

I'm not sure it's often that there is no traffic on the opposite side.. That problem can be and is, dealt with by installing a pressure plate system in each quadrant. Having said that, those systems are often set for 4 wheel vehicle weights, leaving motorcyclists and bicyclists waiting at an endless red light hoping for a car to come along so the light will switch to green. 

As for working it out myself, perhaps I should have said almost all people were unsure of the correct use. I researched how to use them, had to as they are not used often in the New World.  It didn't do me a lot of good because almost everyone else was doing as they pleased...

Well, depending on whether the light is green or red for you, you might have to stop at the traffic lights. Quelle surprise..

The roundabout was a free for all. The fact that it worked at all is because nobody understood how it worked..

The  roundabout at Soi WatBoon and Jomtien 2nd Rd. has disappeared overnite!

Traffic lights are turned on again. Good riddance to it.

The Saint...

He was so cool.

I actually got to say hello to him several times when we we both staying in the Narai Hotel in Bangkok in 1972 iirc.

They were filming Man With A Golden Gun at the time.

I was traveling with a beautiful blond English girl who was sounded out about work as an extra but plans didn't allow..Blond English girls being a little thin on the ground in Bangkok in the early 70's. Now of course, I wish we had changed plans.

He was still a very handsome man even as he aged..lucky fellow.

You will have to order from India..

My IQII now running Nougat 7.1.1

13 hours ago, IAMHERE said:

It is insinuated that Bill used his power to manipulate women into bed; is that anything like using your wallet to get a hooker into bed with you?

Not even close....

1 hour ago, Ken said:

Bought my Honda Rebel 300 cc in Korat about 6 weeks ago.  So far, quite happy with it.  Just got back from a Nong Khai trip yesterday.  Just under 6000 km so far.  Price was 159,500 Baht.

Your price was 159,500 Baht. A 10% premium. Because you were an early-adopter. Usual Honda retailer shenanigans with new models of bigger bikes. The scooter market is too competitive for this business model to succeed.

The price is 145,000 Baht.

12 hours ago, little mary sunshine said:

Go get 'me Donald!!  

Freudian slip?

A few days ago I made a post in the Pattaya forum about my issues with a new LG UHD tv. Almost all of the foreign language HD (not really, as it's 1080i) channels had a lip sync problem. Thai language HD channels were fine but I'm not a conspiracy nut...   The LG could not resolve them using the built in AV Sync setting.  Bypassing the built-in digital tuner and using a digital tuner set-top box solved the problem. However, I balked at that solution for a new tv and returned the LG yesterday. It was a 49in. on sale for 17,199 baht. 

The return experience was not painless. The LG rep said I didn't know how to use the AV Sync setting and insisted on coming to my home to "adjust it". He could not, got angry and said it was ok to return it.

While returning it I saw that there is now a sale on the TCL 49in. UHD for 15,299.  When I bought the LG the TCL was 17,300 so I thought I would be getting a better tv by buying the LG for the same price. I have no problem with TCL. I have had 3 of them over the years.

My dilemma is that I would like to buy the TCL and save 2000 baht but the Big store does not have cable. So I have to buy it and wait to see how good the digital tuner is when I get it home. If it also has problems syncing the digital channels I will have to return it and will probably be banned from the store!   Seriously, I now know that this is not an uncommon problem with HD broadcasting due to the large difference in data streams.

Can anyone contribute their experiences with digital tuner equipped television?

Update 2...

It was the television. Sophon techs came today and checked the signal strength from the outlet. Fine. Observed the problem and then hooked up a Sophon set top box, used for sets without an internal digital tuner. I actually have one of these. Everything in sync. Dodgy internal digital tuner.

This is a 4K set I purchased 5 days ago. It's going back.

I have a Minix android box so I'm aware of the alternatives, but sometimes you just want turn on the television and watch.... golf and Bloomberg. 

Update..

With a little more research I've found out that this problem is common for digital broadcasts in HD. It's called the "lip sync" problem and many televisions have audio settings for AV sync. You can speed up or delay the audio to sync with the picture. My tv has this but the adjustments are not sufficient...

But... all the Thai language HD channels are in sync. It's only some (not all) of the foreign language channels that are out of sync.

So I still believe that Sophon needs to adjust their settings.

Many of the HD channels on my tv are unwatchable due to the audio lagging behind the video feed. The regular SD channels are unaffected. I brought this to the attention of my condo office since they have the master account and asked them to contact Sophon to see what they had to say, assuming it was their problem. amazingly, Sophon sent out a tech to the condo to check the same afternoon. I was out when the tech came but the office manager said he had done "something" and wanted to know if the problem had been solved. It is not solved.

Are other Sophon users experiencing this problem?

It's annoying to be watching the Golf Channel HD and hearing the "whack" of the club 3 seconds after the swing is completed....  Of course any shows where the dialogue is important are basically unwatchable.