Aviador

He's bloody good isn't he Udon ? 

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Hmm.

My Thai connection called me Thursday with the news that he had a settlement check for 244,000 Baht check in his hot little hands. Joy to the world. That’ll buy a few beer Changs, since I had already written it off as a lost cause. He sent me an SMS that he would be home around 6 and would see me then.

However……….That was the last time I heard from him. I get the usual “Kathod kaa” solly the person you are tlying to leach is not avairable whenever I dial his cell phone number. Could it be ? To a person who makes 12000 Baht a month whenever he is working, 244,000 must seem like a lot of money. Naaaa impossible. He is such a nice guy and Thais are sooooo honest. I did go to court with him the first 2 days, but sat around like a dummy, because I didn’t understand a thing during the procedure. Why travel 2 hours per day each way ? I have better things to do, like argue with TOT .

A propos TOT. I am looking forward to my next meeting with the ghoul of womanhood to argue my case. Yes I do, rather I did own a digital camera. A Nikon cool pix for which I paid $ 490.oo US 2 years ago. However, one of my little urchins dropped the thing about 2 weeks ago. I sent it to Bangkok for repairs. If it turns out like my first washing machine, which sat at the repair shop for 3 months waiting for a micro processor and now rests somewhere at the bottom of the Andaman sea, I am not hedging any bets for a speedy return. While in Phuket, I ordered a cool camera. Canon Powershot S2 supposedly voted the best for the money in several on-line magazines. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/Avia...powershotS2.jpg, 19,000 Baht plus VAT. Delivery on the 28th this month, coinciding with the receipt of the check for the settlement. Hmmm. Add that to 244 grand, it would be a cool quarter of a million for someone.

I haven’t lost faith in humanity yet, although it is difficult, having bent over so many times getting screwed in the short 15 months I have lived here.

Don’t worry about everything, nothing is going to be alright my sainted mother used to say. Greets the ol’ Capt.

That washing machine repairman make a visit yet?  You gotta’ be running out of underwear. 

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No. TokyoTsan.

All it needs a timer, because it stops at a certain spot and has to be advanced manually.

I have repaired many a washing machine in my life, but I'll be darned to to take this one apart myself. For once, I want warrantee service, even if I have to stand here and move the timer by hand for the next 2 years

Sayonara.

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Good to here you at least have clean skivvies. Thailand is entirely too hot to consider the alternative. Now all you have to do is sit around and wait for h*ll to freeze over, and the repairman will be there soon after.

You do realize they are waiting for your warranty to expire before sending said service man.

BTW the repairman is the brother of the TOT lady.

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Oh the joys of living in LOS.

Two weeks ago Friday the phone went dead again. it wasn't raining or anything. No dial tone on Saturday and the same in green on Sunday. Monday morning a call to TOT's cusomer service to some broad who does not speak English was answered via one of my Thai speaking friends with “I will check” and that’s about all the response I received every time I called.

True to Thai culture, no one will ever admit to not knowing anything. That would mean loosing face. So it is always: “we will check”. The Thais seem to accept this with a shrug of the shoulders, a c’est la vie attitude which I am afraid I will never get used to.

Later in the week I received a phone call from someone at TOT. “We are changing the lines. No shit Sherlock. You had 6 months to do that . I drove to the village and noticed 10 or so lines laying on the ground. That was a week ago Wednesday.

OK. Factor in:

Thursday and Friday being a Buddhist holiday followed by the weekend, it doesn’t take a mathematical genius to figure out that nothing is going to happen until the following Monday. (maybe).

As a youngster at the age of 18 (more than 50 years ago) I worked briefly for New Jersey Bell Telephone Company in the USA. We were replacing some of the ancient telephone lines in the village where I lived. Just about the same thing as they are doing here, EXCEPT:::

The new lines were strung, leaving the old one’s in place temporarily until “cut over”. At that time, subscribers were notified that there may not be any phone service for about 3 to 4 hours.

Well, guess what ? Nobody was without phone service for more than 2 hours.

In my travels as a pilot I spent a great deal of time in South America. I remember a hotel in Manaus Brazil about 30 years ago. A place where native Indians ran around butt naked only an hour’s canoe ride up the Rio Negro. The Hotel however did have telephone service. I wanted to place a phone call to the USA just to tell my company that I did indeed arrive. Several attempts of the desk clerk with a hand crank phone did not elicit a reply from the “operator”. ¨”Senhor pesaroso, said the man, but the lady may be out feeding the chickens”. This was perfectly acceptable as something occurring in a third world country.

But some of the lame excuses TOT has should not be tolerated in today’s LOS.

Well, day before yesterday the 27th of July I finally had had it. I got a hold of someone who speaks Thai, dialed the customer service number and while he was talking to this tomato, I screamed an hollered in the background using every English profanity I could muster. “I will talk to the engineer” was her reply. Voila !! 1 hour later my phone worked. Even though I did get disconnected 4 times within 30 minutes attempting to retrieve my e-mal.

The same afternoon TOT's truck arrived. ADSL is back. Well, it isn't god's gift to internet connections, but at least (I thought) I would not be diconnected every 5 minutes. Not really. This morning punctually at 8 AM, (the Thai national anthem was playing on the satellite TV), DSL went south. Nothing worked. Switching to dial-up everything was honky dory. Oh well.

I don't know if I posted this before.

TOT’s bill for June arrived a few days ago. Always a joyous occasion and the reason to keep several antacid tablets handy prior to opening.

Everything of non-importance is in Thai as well as English, like previous balance, paid amount, and post -bill adjustment (whatever that is) All that is missing is a smiley to really rub it in how they screwed me the month before.

The left side, first line contains the current charges (all in Thai), with the exception of something in parenthesis (M2) Beats me what that is. Well, it’s only 200 Baht, so be it.

Second line all hieroglyphics: 1,557.00 Baht,

Next line, ditto: 18.00 Baht,

Last but not least ditto but

(Audiotex) ?? behind it: 6.00 Baht (big deal)

VAT 7%: 124.67 Baht

Grand total: 1,905.67 Baht

My Thai friend tells me the above represents “LOCAL CALLS” placed from my Telephone. I know for a fact that there were absolutely no calls made from my phone, because I don’t even have a handset hooked up to it . I use the line strictly for the computer.

I can just see the old bitch in Takuapa telling me again: “You play internet, you must pay”.

I used “TRUE” as an ISP which dials the 1222 number at 3 baht per connection and pay, True I think 490 Baht for 30 days unlimited access.

Last month the line was more dead than alive, in fact between the 15th and 21st I had no more than perhaps 2 days on uninterrupted service and at one point there was nothing for an entire weekend. Whenever I did manage to get a dial tone, I was rudely interrupted every 10 or 15 minutes, because the line went silent again.

Assuming, (I know “assume” makes an ass out of you and me :>) but in reality, at 3 Baht per “connection” I figured I would have to have been re-connecting 519 times ? (IMPOSSIBLE)

Even if it were true, it means that I am paying 2,385.67 Baht a month for the privilege of lightning speed dial-up with: (let’s see 15.9 kb/sec at this moment while I am to posting this here.) Asinine !!!!

Hand me another antacid and pour me a stiff glass of Johnny Walker Black label.

TOT’s logo should read: Bend over, we’ll drive you home.

Hey, the sun is shining, the washing machine still ain't working. (Maybe I should try the profanity spewing telephone call with the repair guy too )

All in all it ain't a bad day. I had sent my Thai connection to court in Phuket every day this week. We were suing the Insurance company which screw me out of 300,000 baht. I think they settled yesterday for 80%. But better than nothing. lawers do come cheaper in this country.

Greeting the ol' Capt.

If anyone can tell me what this means I will be very appreciative- I am looking for an apartment but this manager does not speak English or Thai  :

kein fernsehapparat, kühlschrank ja, telefonleitung ja, seperate küche ja, du solltest mopet fahren können, das appartment ist am meer und 2 kilometer  vom white sand beach entfernt. schau dir

das vorort an und entscheide dann.

viele grüße

Thanks!

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Hi girlx.

OK, here goes:

No TV, fridge, yes, telephone line, yes, separate kitchen, yes. You should know how to ride a motorbike, the apartment is on the ocean and 2 km from whithe sandy beach.

Look at the "Vorort" ? (Hm normally means a small town before a big town) and then make up your mind.

Best regards:

Looks like a winner ?????? The ol' Capt. happily retired.

PS: Tiene preguntas en Español tambien? No problema aqui

Suggest you get the wheels rebalanced. Any tire retailer should be able to do it.

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I had this problem with a car years ago. It was the front Shockers. No probs after I renewed them.

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I agree.

Having owned and maintained more than 30 cars in my lifetime. The out of balance problem almost always occcured around 50 mph, (80 km/hr) at least with 14 or 15 inch wheels. Of course the problem could be exacerbated by worn out shocks as well.

But why couldn't a reasonably intelligent technician come up with this diagnosis ?

(Because they are more scarse as hen's teeth in LOL )

I have the ubiquitous Suzuki Jeep/death trap us foreigners tend to drive. It is a 1991 model with an interesting history.  From my UK driving experience it is well past it,s sell by date.  However we try to maintain it with regular servicing etc and what ever garage we randomly take it to, they just    whilst ripping us off.  For example the Suzuki garage in Phuket town attempted to correct a steering problem last year without success for the handsome fee of 8000 farts.   Recently the problem reoccured with the steering wheel wobbling violently at 50km/hr   so we try another random garage on the Choa fa - east .  It,s the wheel bearing were told only 150 fart to correct hello, that sounds great.  So we leave the death trap there for a few hrs.  Return to collect and what do you know - wheel bearing (s) four off; wheel hub 3500 baht; grease etc total bill 5900 farts.  OK at least the cars fixed right?  Not on your nelly.  Now we have to drive everywhere at 49km/hr  to avoid the violent steering wheel wobble.  All I need is a few second hand parts a conscientious - mechanic - or is that asking too much?  What a bunch of c@#ts :

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Welcome to the club.

Read my posts: Doesn't anybody in Thailand how fo fix anything?

You ain't seen nothin' yet

Saludos, the ol' Capt.

That washing machine repairman make a visit yet?  You gotta’ be running out of underwear. 

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No. TokyoTsan.

It needs a timer, because it stops at a certain spot and has to be advanced manually.

I have repaired many a washing machine in my life, but I'll be darned to to take this one apart myself. For once, I want warrantee service, even if I have to stand here and move the timer by hand for the next 2 years

Sayonara.

Same same as flying an airliner nose on into a wild storm   Mayday, Mayday. Mayday 

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And heeeere we go again.

Guarantees, or the absence of such.

I have a 14 year old boy living with me since the Tsunami. His father is a cop in town as is his grandfather, a Major with the local constabulary. His parents had marital problems. The boy came to play video games and had stayed overnight on December 26th when the tsunami hit. Lucky for all concerned, the father was in Phuket and the mother in Bangkok visiting relatives, because the wave obliterated their home here in Baniang. They literally lost everything. Both parents begged me to take care of the kid in the meanwhile. Remembering raising two teenagers myself it was almost too much to ask, but the kid was really no problem. His dad had promised him a Motorbike for his 14th birthday prior to December 26th which now was impossible. With much moaning and groaning on Don’s side, I offered 13,000 Baht towards the purchase of a new 23,000 Baht Honda Wave. (Well, I am a softy when it comes to kids anyway.) At first I was dead set against it because Don seemed too immature for his 14 years. But I relented with the stipulation that the vehicle not be registered in my name.

Yesterday the bike had a wobbly rear wheel making all kinds of grinding noises. I suspected a defective rear bearing and suggested driving it slowly to the local Honda Dealer only 8 km from here, since it only had 5000 km on the odometer and a supposedly 15,000 km warrantee.

Hahahaha, LOL. Shades of Mitsubishi. He came back with a bill for 650 Baht.(yes it was a bearing) Later I queried the owner of the dealership who told me, since the bike had been purchased in in Phuket it should have been taken to the dealer there for warrantee service. What if they had bought it in Bangkok ???

Like RIPLEY used to say: “Believe it or not,” or: “There’s sucker born every minute.”

Trying to think Thai ? It ain’t easy.

Greets, the ol’ Capt.

With your philosophic outlook and attitude, you'll win here too Cap'n 

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Hey, thanks Doc.

I don't think I will ever win, but I may adapt (god forbid )

I have one Farlang aquaintence here. Has lived here for over 10 years. He told me recently: "You have to stop thinking American. Think "Thai, I do now".

This guy, although likeable is unreliable, untrustworthy, drinks too much, exaggerates and not relly a shining example of what I think I would ever want to become.

Greets the ol. Capt.

PS. Rainy season ???? It hasn't rained here for a week, except when some black clouds overhead blanked out UBC and the kids missed their favorite show just at the most interesing part.

In keeping with the thread:

TOT’s bill for May arrived today. Always a joyous occasion and the reason to keep several antacid tablets handy prior to opening.

Everything of non-importance is in Thai as well as English, like previous balance, paid amount, and post -bill adjustment (whatever that is) All that is missing is a smiley to really rub it in how they screwed me the month before.

The left side, first line contains the current charges (all in Thai), with the exception of something in parenthesis (M2) Beats me what that is. Well, it’s only 200 Baht, so be it.

Second line all hieroglyphics: 1,557.00 Baht,

Next line, ditto: 18.00 Baht,

Last but not least ditto but

(Audiotex) ?? behind it: 6.00 Baht

VAT 7%: 124.67 Baht

Grand total: 1,905.67 Baht

My Thai friend tells me the above represents “LOCAL CALLS” placed from my Telephone. I know for a fact that there were absolutely no calls made from my phone, because I don’t even have a handset hooked up to it . I use the line strictly for the computer.

I can just see the old bitch in Takuapa telling me again: “You play internet, you must pay”.

I use “TRUE” as an ISP which uses the 1222 number and pay, I think 480 Baht for 30 days unlimited access.

Last month the line was more dead than alive, in fact between the 15th and 21st I had no more than perhaps 2 days on uninterrupted service. At one point there was nothing for an entire weekend. Whenever I did manage to get a dial tone, I was rudely interrupted every 10 or 15 minutes, because the line went silent again.

Assuming, (I know assume makes an ass out of you and me :>) but in reality, at 3 Baht per connection I figured I would have to have been re-connecting 519 times ? IMPOSSIBLE

Even if it were true, it means that I am paying 2,385.67 Baht a month for the privilege of lightning speed dial-up with: (let’s see 15.9 kb/sec at this moment while I am posting this here.) Asinine !!!!

Hand me another antacid and pour me a stiff glass of Johnny Walker Black label.

TOT’s logo should read: Bend over, we’ll drive you home.

P.S.

Frank Sinatra once sang a song about New York, where he says: "If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere"..........

Well I lived in New York for 20 years

Greets the ol' Capt.

H ell is a very, very, naughty word in Georges book 

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Even though he has an advance booking for the next life

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I won't take the bait ......

Do you think you could get G to reply or even open his PMs?

cheers

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Now, now boys.

How did we get from bitching about incompetent or non existent repair persons into philosphical opinions as to what awaits us in the hereafter ? I respect everybody's believe, even the stupid notion hereabouts, about people who believe in ghosts. Rumor has it, that there are ghosts of the misssing 1200 foreigners still haunting the beaches in Khao Lak, Khuck Khak and Ban Sak, impeding the employment of local Thais ( as well at the Burmese) who won't go near the places.

Anyway:

An engineer died, went to heaven, only to have St. Peter refuse him admission. Naturally, the only alternative was H..ell

As was customary, God would call Belzebub occasionally, just to see how thing are going "down there".

"Oh," said the King of darkness, "I meant to call you. Thanks for sending this engineer down here. He installed air conditioning, music systems and satellite TV."

"Wait", said God. "I just checked. There was mistake. He should not be down there. Send him up here as soon as possible".

"No way", was the evil one's answer. "Who knows what he will come up with next."

Now the Lord got angry. "If you don't send him up here pronto, I will sue."

"Oh yea "??? said the Devil." Where are YOU going to get a Lawyer"

By the way, the washing mashine repairman hasn't shown up yet

Greets the ol' Capt.

Hi Aviador !

Just one question.....why are you Aviador and not Aviator ??? 

mini

Ps - My fiance is also a pilot .....he calls himself Aviator   !! 

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Your fiance was probably the person who took the nik before I could

Even the spanish version by itself was taken with Yahoo, hence the 88. The other plain aviador worked with mail.com. I could have tried aviator there as well, but it would have been confusing. Kapitän would have been cute, but I wasn't sure the umlaut would work.

Saludos del país de los sonrisas, el Captán viejo

Captain, I have to say that whilst I sympathise with some of your problems........I have to confess that on the whole I have had a h*ll (thats 1 way to express your H word) of a laugh at your expense! !

I don't think I have ever met a person who has suffered such continuing catastophes as you! !

Yet you remain cheerful and optimistic..........

Keep up the posts and Chok Dee with your new life!

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Thank you, but as "mi sainted motthurr used to soy" (had she been Irish) which she wasn't.

"Never go to bed with bad thoughts", a philosophy I have adhered to all my life. Mañana será un otro día (tomorrow is another day) is someting I learned from the people in South America. I awoke this morning and said: "Hey I am still alive and kicking." Even the ants waved HALLO

See my post about the ants.

Greets the ol' Capt.

Try these links

http://www.ehow.com/how_3791_rid-ants-naturally.html

http://www.ghorganics.com/page9.html

http://eartheasy.com/live_natpest_control.htm

By getting rid of do you mean "chase away" or "exterminate".

I have found Boric Acid Powder as an effective killer, whereas Garlic certainly keeps them away from areas.

Cheers

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"chase away" or "exterminate" ??

No contest.eliminate, banish, do away with, eraticate, abolish, remove, reduce curb. I think I ran out of expletives.

URL # 1. states:

Determine why they are entering your property and eliminate the food, water and/or housing that they need to survive

Why ?? I don't know. Never thought to ask one. (Would you ask a burglar, why he is in your bedroom at 2 AM ?)

Tightly wrap and store food set out on kitchen counters

While I am eating it ? I can hear their foosteps whilst dining

Remove pools of standing water. Ants get thirsty too.

This is the rainy season in Thailand. (Just imagine if I had a swimmimg pool

Seal up cracks. The least toxic method is 100 percent silicon caulk.

My windows and door are open 24/7 except for sreens. It's the tropics Sherlock.

I love this one:

Fire ants aside if you can tolerate some ants they are fascinating to watch.

I have neither the time nor desire to watch the supposedly cute little critters.

Mix together in a container that will not be used for anything else:

4 ounces of peanut butter

4 ounces of sugar

4 ounces of boric acid

I did that, but:

They did prefer "Skippie's crunchy peanut butter"

adored the sugar and got hi on boric acid.

Afterwards all the garlic was gone too.

Perverts, I tell you, perverts.

Greets the ol' Capt.

Shark bite cards are 215 for 30 days I think..

The sanook cards provide no SMTP server so watch out for that..

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I have been lucky with "true". 400 some baht (don't remember the exact amount) 30 days unlimited, although 1222 number only 3 baht per "Connectionon", if it weren't for TOT's "sheytie" service. The bitch in Takuapa loves to see 300 or so re-connects per month. (sometimes every 2 minutes) "You play internet, you must pay" she bleeps.

PS, regarding "Sheyty" I hope the computer overlooks my camouflaged scriptual transgression for excrement. I posted something recently using the "H" word. (Hölle in German, invierno in Spanish), but heck, why can't I use that word?? The local religion doesn't even believe in such a place.

Greets, the ol" Capt. still coping

Back in the States I did have some ants around my home every spring. Carpenter ants, big bold and ######-bent on digesting the frame work of my house, as well as some sugar ants. (or whatever they were called) A few ant traps placed at strategic locations usually alleviated the problem in short notice, because the industrious suckers carried the delicious morsels into their nest to feed the queen. Bingo….No more ants all summer . But, long live the king, who most likely escaped, to find himself another princess to start the entire litany over again with the first rays of sunshine in May. My ex wife used to go bananas if she so much saw an ant or other crawling being. If she lived here, she would well be in the loony bin by now.

But honstlty here in LOS ! My gawd, I can’t believe it. Gigantic termites, huge crawling ants, flying ants, big ants, ferocious looking medium size ants, smaller ants and those microscopic tiny tiny suckers who are into everything. I purchased some “ant poison” whose instructions are, (in English no less). Follow the trail where the ants enter the house and sprinkle….etc. The problem is, they don’t “enter” per say, (at least not visible to the human eye, even with bi-focals) They appear instantly out of nowhere, the moment one leaves a piece of bread, a grain of sugar or whatever on the table, windowsill, washing machine, even the toilet bowl cover for only a second and :“Geronimo, heeere we come, dinnertime fellows” . I am convinced there must be tiny balloons, airplanes or even flying saucers from outer space, suspended stationary all around the house, just waiting to release the troops on tiny parachutes. I wrapped and taped sugar cubes, into a plastic, bag after dumping 80 % of “infected” stuff in the trash. I do not use sugar in my coffee, but after having guests the other morning I discovered that perhaps I had missed some of those little creatures, (maybe a male and a female) because they hat multiplied, happily gorging themselves without any means of escape.

Does anyone have an idea how to get rid of these pests, without burning the entire house down ?

Don’t suggest calling an exterminator. I tried that 2 weeks ago, nobody showed up. (what else is new and neither did the washing machine repair man).

Just another day of trials and tribulation in the LOS, but I am getting the hang of it.(I think)

Greets the ol’ Capt.

Cap'n, time for an update?

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I pre-paid TT&T for SDSL 5 weeks ago, nobody has shown up as yet either.

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Just a word of warning in that with the cheaper TOT and TT&T home packages no one will come.. Self install is the small rpint..

You have to supply and confugure your own ADSL modem (and they forget to give you the config details and TOT actually gave me totally wrong sign in details !!!!).. When these were expensive packages they used to send out an engineer to set it up for you but not any more with the cheapies..

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I have 2 TOT ADSL modems which I bought, laying around. One was struck by lightning and repaired under warrantee after I purchases a second one. I was quite satisfied wit TOT's ADSL, but the Tsunami changed everything. I wanted to try TT&T just to see if there was a difference.

After 6 months, TOT still hasn't gotten their act together with even the basic phone service. (It was out again for 20 hours over the weekend but the bills keep coming) They should pay me for all the aggravation.

TOT's program is still on my hard drive and I would like nothing better than just to have it, vs the 17.5 kb/sec right now with "TRUE".

Oh well, LOS and no reason to get pissed, (my lips are blue from chewing) so they keep telling me. Greets the ol' Capt.

Cap'n, time for an update?

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If you insist, although not much has happened.

My project to replace the tsunami damaged driveway at the Baniang school is done. Well, they stopped working and tell me they are finished. As far as I am concerned; Not by a long shot.

The original estimate submitted by the contractor called for:

Site clearing and preparation: Labor cost: 32,880 Bht

Back filling and compacting: Labor cost: 45,000 Bht

Total: 77,880 Bht.

3 guys at 250 Baht per day??, (which is I think the going rate)

Anyway, the driveway is not a glowing example of Thai expertise and workmanship.

Building a house. Well, the first guy to submit some plans was the same fellow who also did the driveway-job. I was not thrilled with any of the floor plans and in light of what happened at the school-job, he was on my sh***t list anyway. Sorry Charley.

Number 2 “Architect” missed 4 appointments within a 2 week period without an explanation, leaving me sitting home all day picking my nose.

Number 3 showed up 2 days ago, had some nice plans. It will be interesting to see how expedient he will be. I will probably have to hire a guard to watch the site, because at several construction projects here, building material disappears overnight, except at the beaches, because of signs posted in Thai, proclaiming that ghosts are patrolling the area.

I received a telephone call from TOT Friday, asking me, if my telephone worked. What ? It appears to be working, because how else would I be able to talk to you ? “Oh, cop koon kaaaaah“, purred the chick at the other end. The line went dead again that evening and did not come to life again until last night. Punishment for being a wise guy, I suppose.

I pre-paid TT&T for SDSL 5 weeks ago, nobody has shown up as yet either.

I gave up on the first washing machine mensch and called another one 3 weeks ago. Not a sign of him also.

All I a day’s work in the LOS.

Cheers, the ol’ Capt.

In the U.K. 200 Marlboro Lights are £45 (app 3,300baht) in Thailand approx 500baht. Theye don't taste the same but i've got used to them, especially with that price difference. Must admit though, everytime time one of my mates get's a Brown top out I drool.......or swap him 2 of mine for 1 of his ! 

Mr BoJ

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They definately put some dodgy additives in the Thai brands, the same as the dodgy scams going on in the U.K with eastern europeans selling cheap copy smokes full of arsenic lead etc etc.

Local newspaper recently interviewed some of the punters who they found buying these "dodgy " fakes just up the road from here.

Most of them are flogged on the street by gangs of usually illegals immis (eastern europe) and as said above they are all fake and contain high levels of Arsenic,Lead and Cadmiun mixed with a dubious synthethic tobacco mix and sell for @ £2-50 a pack (20)

One old croan who was asked why she bought them remarked that although she know that they wernt quite "right" unlike nomal "fags" she could at least TASTE them...plus they were cheap

Government now finally talking about banning all smoking in ALL Public Places.

...bit of Info...

Why should you stop smoking?

Average smoker in UK spends just under £1700 a year on their "thing"

@ Bt 127,000...over 10 year= Bt 1,127,000......Price of a CONDO.

and...it seems....

The health benefits of stopping smoking start almost immediately.

After:

20 minutes: Blood pressure and pulse return to normal

8 hours: Nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in the blood are halved, oxygen

levels in the blood return to normal

24 hours: Carbon monoxide is eliminated from the body and the lungs start to

clear out the build up of tar

48 hours: There is no nicotine left in the body.

Taste and smell are greatlyimproved

72 hours: Breathing becomes easier, bronchial tubes begin to relax, energy

levels increase

2 - 12 weeks: Circulation improves, making walking and running a lot easier

3 - 9 months: Coughs, wheezing and breathing problems improve

5 years: Risk of heart attack is halved

10 years: Risk of lung cancer is halved.

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Oh gawd, don't I just looove those do gooders, health preachers and holier than thou folks.

I am 70 years old, have smoked since I was 14 and still (if I am bored) smoke about 2 packs a day. Right now, I am coughing my brains out, but not because of the L&M's, but I cought something like a "cold" which would be a misnomer at 32 degrees. Several of my neighbors harbor the same bug, which manifest itself by expelling ugly green slime in no way reminiscent of anything closely related to tabacco.

My own brother in law decided to give up the nasty habit (and yes it is a filthy habit) at the age of 30, mainly because of his wife's constant nagging. At 54 he had a triple bypass and from what my ex wife told me (via e-mail) he is back in the hospital for another one. (He is now also 70) I lost one of my best friends who died of a heart attack at the age of 53 jogging, just to keep his heart "healthy". My original flight instructor would tell me, every time I lit one "get away from me with those darn cigarettes". He died of emphysema at the age of 60. The man never smoked a cigarette in his life.

I remember a scandal at a nursing home in Brooklyn NY about 25 years ago. The staff was stealing money from the old folks. NBC TV went there with some broad, I think her name was Rosemary Scarmadello, to interview a 96 year old lady. This tomato asked the woman "How are you managing your money ?" "Oh", the woman said, "my son and daughter in law are sending me just enought to keep me in cigarettes" "Ohmigosh" said the interviewer "don't you know it is bad for your health to smoke?" "Lady", the woman said, "I am 96 and if it bad for me, so be it. I enjoy smoking and have for 80 years".

Rinada,, There is nothing worse than an ex-smoker or ex-drunk and I have the feeling that you are one of the other (or both :>)

I respect non smoking people's homes. I wouldn't dare light a cigarette in their house. On one occasion, I think it was Christmas back in the USA, I had my ex-wife's relatives up for holiday dinner. One of her cousins came up to me as I was smoking a cigarette and said "I wish you wouldn't smoke in the presense of my two children." "Well" I said, "I have this huge deck outside, it is minus 12 but if you don't want your kids to be exposed to my smoke, take them outside. Whenever I am at your house I respect your non smoking policy, but this is my home. Here I allow myself to smoke, burp, fahrt and whatever else".

Needless to say, they never came back, which was no great loss.

I really did not want to get so long-winded.

Greetings the ol Capt'n happily retired.