Shiver

On 5/23/2017 at 3:43 PM, Jai Dee said:

 

Probably... 

 

Ha ha, it's been a while since I saw that.
I was referring to an earlier poster mentioning books being banned, but life imitates art I'm told.

If they end up taxing the air that we breathe then just don't pay your taxes so you get cut off, and they won't be able to burn the books..  See? That's for thinking and these are for dancin'.

1 hour ago, janclaes47 said:

How about that George Orwell book. You sure it's legal?

Wonder if I can download Fahrenheit 451?

4 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

                                It's ironic that, because of the title and content of this thread, ...a bunch of skin whitener ads show up all around, to accompany it.  

 

                                There's an industry that's even lower than skin-whitener industry which also dupes people on industrial scale.  Yet, the target little kids.  I'm referring to the slicksters who sell sugar-laden snacks to kids.  To me, they're worse than the seediest street corner drug dealers who peddle heroin.     At least the people who buy heroin and speed are usually adult-aged - so they can decide whether to ruin their lives.  Little kids can't decide about sugar-laden stuff.  They just love the sweetness and bright colors (and Tony the Tiger, and jingles, etc) that sugar is packaged with.  National Geographic declared sugar is addictive.   Ok sorry, I veered off-topic a bit.

Come on.... every hi-so kid should have the opportunity to be pre-diabetic by age 4 :)

Someone will hack a work around in a heartbeat.  People enjoy the challenge.  If I were 13y/o again it would be me.  Not these days though, brain has matured.

And what about existing boxes that don't upgrade their s/w? at what point does it intercept?

I know I'm not speaking alone when I say I love the pale caramel colour.  GF and self go for a walk in the sunshine.  I get lobster burn/scabbing and peel, and her body dealt with it already and changed colour, no drama for her.  She still prefers to keep covered up, but not to extremes.

My previous GF was a freak about colour, and would buy 'skin whitening' anything.  I say "do you understand that they (big brand names) are breaking laws of advertising claims on what this product will do?" and she would say "just advertising, nobody believe" (except they continued to fly off the shelf.

I think with my background I could make a decent cream that would get you to your natural lightest (i.e. those parts that never see the sun), but to get 'white' requires harsh chemicals and is not attractive or natural anymore than silicone is.

Bottom line: Be with people who are comfortable in their own skin as it is.  

Personally I like a bit of colour, much better than the Benidorm sun worshippers that look a year older than actual age each time the do it and can look 60 when they're 40.  Thais do better than that without spending a bean.

DHCP - A bit like hot desking when they don't have enough to lay idle and unused.

On 4/18/2017 at 4:06 PM, williamgeorgeallen said:

dogs are more faith full.

 

I have a woman and a dog stay with me (no cat), they seem to like each other more than me, but the dog still hasn't got an ATM yet.  The GF has one (for her salary which goes on her clothes and her dog) but also any larger expenditures I make, she wants me to pay to her account so that she can show an active account when applying to go to UK (I only said I might go as I've not seen the rellos in over a decade and I'm running out of pages in my passport anyhow).  She's already told her friends that 'we' are going to UK and started making arrangements.  Haven't decided whether to take her at the peak of summer (only one jacket required), or the trough of Winter (so she never wants to go again).  Then again, I'd like to see her on a snowboard for selfish giggles, so we could take the long way home through mainland Europe to Thailand if it's the right season.

If the authorities need any assurances that she'll come back to Thailand then they're barking up the wrong tree looking at a purposefully prettied up bank book.  I'll just tell them she's got a freaking dog and they'll both be crying until they're back together.

I was in Phuket and I knew something wasn't right with me (turned out to be liver).  Went to BKK Int'l in Phuket and got a 16,000 bill, which I thought was steep for a blood test and ultrasound.

Months later in Bangkok a friend I hadn't seen in years commented on how ill and older I looked and practically demanded that I go to Bumrungrad there and then.  They did the same tests, then come back next day where they took some ultrasound photos and gave me a bill for nearly 60,000 (about 2 1/2 hours of their time in total).  Those nice people did give me a bottle of Centrum multivitamins though, and some milk thistle and told me to come back in 6 weeks.

I got back home (Udon) and after a couple of days getting over being told I had a year to live at the current rate, I went to a local clinic, ultrasound ...again...told it's the liver...again, and gave me some more appropriate medication (especially potassium sparing diuretics to deal with the Ascites).  Total cost 2200 baht.

I still go there once a month, he prescribes me Cialis and Dianabol Lol.  Says my liver is near perfect.  He was scanning me once and said "I can see you've given up drinking".  I said "no" (I'm not going to lie to someone who is trying to help me, that would be wasting time for both of us).  He looked away from the ultrasound screen and at me and said "Wow.  I mean...Wow.  You repair quickly".  I reminded him that I maintained it wasn't an alcohol issue (yeah but all alcoholics say that).  Yeah but so do non alcoholics.  Btw I didn't get any parasite tests Hep B, C tests or anything else.  Had to procure those myself.

I cured myself of Cirrhosis (yeah I know, that's impossible, but pictures were taken remember?) that was approaching end stage with Traditional Chinese Medicine, cost a few hundred dollars.  I still don't trust doctors and that just reinforced it for me.  ER or broken leg sure, but as my drug supplier...be vigilant.

I read a study on mice that basically said both Ice and Cocaine if given to the mice and unmetered, they all eventually take enough to kill them. 100% - no exceptions. Self preservation isn't in there.

I guess for some people that could be said of alcohol, but it isn't even close to the above two.  Smoking could be causative/additive for other conditions, but it isn't a perfect predictor of outcome.

Weed I just don't see how someone could kill themselves with it.  

I'm quite amazed given the above that they see fit to make smoking and alcohol legal (and more importantly to them) Taxable, yet not allow recreational drugs that killed how many? zero, or one maybe at the upper limits.  More likely that it assists in falling off your scooter, but that could be said of alcohol or smoking too (those ashtrays aren't wind proof).

EDIT: Actuaries suggest that smoking can take 7-8 years off your life.  In other studies, drinking a lot of green tea can add about 13 to your life.  You could do both and be a net +5 years compared to an RDA follower.

19 hours ago, morocco said:

You don't have a clue about what you are talking about. I have not heard so much dribble as you talk. I have seen good and intelligent people lose everything due to hard drugs. Most of them did not start drugs because they were broken people. Fortunately many people make it back to reality.  Many don't. Weed is just another gateway drug like tobacco and alcohol. The most common problem is excess use due to addiction. 

I was with you until you got to 'gateway'.  I suspect it's more of a gateway to climbing off more destructive practises.  I've heard people say to me 'smoke some marijuana then get a pint of beer, and at the end of the night you'll still have most of your pint of beer.  I don't know if that is true or not, but the idea is very appealing for a relaxation method rather than getting drunk.

If they legalised it I'd be using it on occasion.  The breweries would hate it though, and as always we need to follow the money.

I did read a while back that Thailand is considering commercial cannabis (low THC) as a useful crop that will grow where many other things won't, and could be a boon for monocrop farmers here.  You can get your bottom dollar though that in those vast fields there will be a marijuana plant or two.

I like the idea of 'personal use' being fine, but dealing without a license and best practises inspections etc being punishable.  Corruption will always be somewhere nearby, but it's better than gang wars, quality control issues and price extremes.

20 hours ago, Tapster said:

@Shiver

 

Seriously (this is not a troll wind-up), what are the signs to look for.

 

And are we talking about here: meth being smoked or snorted, or do you mean ya-ba, not crystal meth?

 

Cheers

I was referring to ice used in a bong made from a cheap plastic bottle (paraphenalia incude a needle for putting in the top of a lighter (or just make the flame really really small, PTFE tape for joint sealing the insert into the bottle, the glass part of a dropper bottle to place the crystal while you heat it with the lighter very gentle, and an exit hole to suck the smoke from the water (the smoke goes through the water).

For physical attributes the easy one is the eyes as the pupils dilate like dinner plates, but they also hold themselves differently, sometimes fidget (like straight amphetamine/whizz/speed) not not necessarily depending on dose.  They talk differently, often carrying multithreaded conversations rather quickly and become blinkered in whatever is occupying them at that moment - kind of focussed, but fasster equates to lower quality or productivity.  When off, they do nothing but sleep (often for >24 hours) and become listless and 'elsewhere'.  If using a small amount then they cane be rather amorous or horny.  Empathy seems to be a stage you pass through but not a permanent feature.  Selfishness is highly predominant.

A lot of these things it helps if you know how the person personally to compare current state, but if you just walk into a room and look who seems to be 'different' or more animated than required (and the eyes, they don't like you staring at their eyes and become very self conscious).  As I mentioned earlier, once you see it you know instantly, and it might sound as though some of the above suggestions are contradictory, but I had many people around me for large parts of the day so it was quick to see the cycles.

48 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

I would doubt if there are any countries who do not have drug problems, the only thing that might lessen the problem is very long jail time sentences for the dealers, say a minimum of five years.

They don't consider that at all, they're all too smart to get caught, until they are caught.

When I was renting a place in Jomtien several years back, I had this horrible realisation that most of the people I associated with were using Meth.  That included my then GF, my Business partner, two employees, a husband and wife team (breast feeding her twins at the same time) and several of the neighbours in houses both next to and opposite me (the latter turned out to be the supplier).  I suddenly felt like I was in a zombie movie and I couldn't trust anyone who I'd previously thought were close to me.

I tried rational discussion, veiled threats to cut off their finances, arguments,  or any other futile measure I could get my hands on.  It didn't take too long to realise that it was fruitless.  Meth is more important than even close family, let alone Thai friends, farang and each other.  I got the hell out of there, they lost their jobs, and I sold my half of the company, which until that point had been growing very nicely (he then managed to run it solo into the ground in 4 months flat due to insolvency where it previously has >$100K in excess income after salaries.  My business partner was getting through 400K baht per month, and his new GF was also a heavy user so presumably that only went up after my exit (non drinker non smoker and almost a non eater and non sleeper for days at a time).  He refused to let me take a look at the accounts (yes, of a company that was half mine!).

I tried so save one of them from prison (at great financial and even greater emotional expense).  Lasted 1 month back on the outside then was back inside with multi-year conviction, so I left them to do the time second time around.

If you know anyone using it, stay away from them and change your number if necessary.  They'll steal from you then help you look for the money 'you' lost.  There were no happy endings.  All of their lives were scarred or destroyed and nobody got out unharmed (not me, not family or their 'clean' friends, or society in general I would imagine).

Bear in mind I'm talking specifically about Meth-Amphetamine here (aka crystal, or ice), not a relaxing toke of Mary Jane.

I voted for 'Serious' in the above poll, as the majority of the population aren't like that, but birds of a feather...  There are more people than perhaps you'd like to believe using ice or Yaa Baa not too far from you though.  Once you know what to look for it is unmistakeable, otherwise you could be oblivious.  Get out and never look back.  Especially if you're a stranger in a strange land as farangs are..

Please sir, is it okay to tell my better half I love her without being sent to prison? or should I just send her emoticons/emojis that stipulate that I rather like her, but only littlebit.

Sometimes we even hold hands, but I'd never write that on a public site

Doh!

You mean they have high powered Generals that decide such stuff?  Next thing our beloved dictator will get a twitter account and send out missives. `140 chars, max max,
 

Moral is, if you're going to do something then do it in the back of a tuk tuk, but for goodness sake step away from the mouse button.

Never thought I'd say this, but it seems both the hospital and insurance have a decent stance (insurance small print notwithstanding)

Like others have said though, from the description it wouldn't appear to be the insurance company's duty, but the 3rd party insurance.

Reminds me of when I bought  a new scooter and asked for 1st class, and asked them to clarify what was and what was not covered.  They gave me the info but basically said 3rd party will be taken care of but I wouldn't, with all kinds of limitations, such as 'will only pay  50% of costs' on some items.  I asked to buy 2 sets of insurance since I wanted 100% no matter what/when/where the event.  They laughed and said roughly 'na, we used to do that, but we lost money'.  No sh1t Sherlock, that's why I want the insurance.  These days I just make sure I have enough to take care of those events in the failure of a policy to cover me, and treat the policy as a mere legal requirement rather than something useful.

It's not the cost that bothers me, it's that I don't know if I'd be conscious or of sound mind after a currently unknown event,  Anyhow, I like walking and the bike can stay home.

14 hours ago, rickudon said:

Also happened to UK vineyards. The timing of the frost is not abnormal, but the first quarter of this year was exceptionally warm - when i arrived back in the UK in March i wore  shorts and shirt only in the daytime for a couple of days. This has encouraged growth and flowering to early in the year, before frost risk had gone. April and May have been abysmally cold so far. Climate change can mean more unseasonable weather - colder or warmer.

 

A lot of this is now believed to be due to changes in the Jet stream, possibly caused by Global warming.

 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170327083120.htm

With jumpy weather like that, it looks like the price of many staple foods may skyrocket this year.  Is wine a staple food? :)  I think many would say yes, but because of the nature of the manufacture process it might be a few years before we see that one propagate.

9 hours ago, lvr181 said:

So, your saying global warming is not caused by humans? That is a fair comment. How many humans were around at the end of the last Ice Age (a global warming event)? Humanity may be a contributory factor but not the cause. Nature gives nature takes away.

Yeah, I'm saying human impact in this particular area is pretty insignificant (unlike chemicals in the sea, radioactivity etc).

I think it's pretty arrogant of humans to think that we matter that much to make such a change when the range of hot cold, sea levels, ice flow etc all crush us like a bug in terms of significance.

''They' say that the ice is melting:  That is true and it's not true.  The ice might be melting in your drink while it is increasing in the refrigerator.  The arctic is losing ice, but the antarctic is increasing in ice, however, what is happening is it is melting off about the bottom third and relocating to the top of the antarctic where it is increasing (hence all the interest in antarctic discoveries lately).  

I'm no expert, the above is just what I pick up in general reading as a side effect when pursuing information for other purposes.

Some people object to the phrase 'global change', where I think it is the most appropriate phrase compared to warming or cooling, which is only true within the contextual constraints of say, some politician trying the think up new ways of taxing us (CO2 tax and Al Gore for example).  Marine Phytoplankton adores CO2 and will thrive in it then sink it (it also grows very quickly and can produce more oil than drilling or fracking it dollar for dollar, and the output (emissions, can go back to recycle it).  Makes no sense until you follow the money.

At the risk of repeating myself (I know I am), look at the sky and tell me it looks the same as when you were a kid.  Didn't the sun used to be orange as well at midday?  We've had the top layer of the atmosphere ripped off (not by humans, but the part of the galaxy we're hurtling through at the moment) which is what used to give space the appearance of blue, yet pictures taken from in space are not blue at all.  Don't want to get all tin foil hat about it, but it is ('scuse the up coming pun) "as plain as day" for anyone to observe.

Champagne, Burgundy and Bordeaux experiencing frost in April that has so far destroyed 60% of their crop.  Now that *is* a rather inconvenient truth (Worst in 1/4 century),.

We'll likely see over here some shift in weather patterns too, mainly rain I would imagine (just conjecture on my part).  I would expect it to go on for a few years as we're leaving a solar maximum towards a minimum just as we're getting slightly closer to Saturn and Jupiter which together I read will take us (astronomically a small number) of 150,000 miles further away from regular orbit for a while.  One degree celsius here, another there, pretty soon you're talking about a major climate personality question mark.

Think I'll take a wait and see approach.  It will be an adult dog by next year so hopefully not quite so needy.

It's only a 4 month old pup, so 6 months is more than a life sentence for it.  It's the missus that is attached to it (I'm feeling displaced, help!).  I keep telling it to get an ATM but it just looks at me with those eyes that defy what trouble making little sh1t it really is.  I can't even get some 'alone time' with GF without it wanting to jump all over us and thinks it's a game for all the family.

I guess UK can manage without me then.  Maybe I'll go with a friend and leave the pair of them here.  Would have been nice for her to experience life outside of Thailand though.  Neighbours would happily take care of the dog, just not sure GF could handle the time/distance.

Bring your own whey powder if you can (leave clothes at home to make space, and replace when you get here).  The same powders are available as back home, just double the price (being imports).

On the other hand, Makro will supply a Kg of chicken (no bone/skin) for something like $150baht/Kg.

Roids are not hard to get here, legally, often over the counter.  Conversely, if you want post cycle stuff like Clomiphene  they might say "we don't sell those, you'll have to go to a fertility clinic". ....makes me wonder..... (maybe order online before you travel).

Can't help you regards BKK though as to me it's just one of those challenges to get through to get to the airport.  There will be thousands on here that will entirely disagree with me though and love the place.

1 hour ago, ThaiWai said:

So you are going to BKK for the motorsports scene?  It's vibrant you're gonna love it.  Just go to any main intersection.

LOL

The search isn't providing results, so apologies if this has been asked one thousand times before:

I am intending to go back to UK (my origin country) sometime next year with gf and a dog in tow.  I intend to stay for about 3 weeks or so while  I visit family, get new passport and holiday in Cornwall etc).  I'm told quarantine is 6 months so that doesn't work.  Is there anything I can do (shots, pet passport etc) so that the dog can travel with us for a few weeks before we return to Thailand? (It is a Thai dog in origin).

Any views appreciated.

If I am static and get squeezed between a truck and a car tying to pull out. I don't care what the speed limit is.

Apart from damage to himself, what was the cost to the community?