connda

Yep. Dang. David Bowie only made it to 69.

You have less than 10 years? I hope so. I'm not particularly fond of living any longer that 10 years is this elderly body which is doing what human bodies do in old age. <laughs> Now I completely sympathize with all those "Old People Talking About Their Aches and Pains" that we laughed at when we were young, dumb, and full of....... well, you know.

Is kindness something that works in life? Absolutely 100%. Kindness is its own reward. Now, if you're looking to get something back for being kind? Then you start to sound like most Thai Buddhist who give because the believe they'll get good things back in return. If you think like that? Well, it won't lead to happiness.

Studying music theory. I plan to fiddle play guitar as the world burns.

He looks to be the age where he'll be handed a rifle and reservist marching orders when he debarks his plane. Yeah - I could imagine that is stressful. Personally I would have opted for alcohol and dispensed with the pot. I will agree that cannabis in sufficient quantities or of sufficient THC concentration will stoke paranoia. Paranoid highs are no fun.

Who are you to criticize how any other person attempts to find fulfillment and happiness?

Not really. It's just the WEF-types, the billionaire-class, and their political proxies slipping on "the boot." “There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always— do not forget this, Winston— always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever. ” ― George Orwell, 1984

Excellent - keep it coming. Let's get those reservoirs, mini-reservoirs, and agricultural catch-basins full before the Cool Season hits. Almost there in our region.

On the flip side, if they full-monty on foreign funds transfers, the government will simply shoot itself in the foot. Short term they create a new tax revenue stream; long-term they lose foreign business and foreign-funds injected into the Thai economy. In the end, the Thai economy suffers and domestic tax revenues take a hit. Thais are no good at long-term planning.

Social Security and US pension income is not taxable based on US/Thai tax treaties. I'm not worried.

What do you think is the biggest threat to humanity/civilication? The biggest threat to humanity/civilication [sic] are nuclear weapons. The second biggest threat to humanity/civilization are those who promote the idea that "first strike" and "tactical use" of nuclear weapons will not lead to Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) and therefore promote their use. And the 1000 lbs gorilla in the room are Coronal Mass Ejections and the fact that most governments refuse to spend the money to "harden" the primary grids against EMF/EMP. One of those two will take out humanity as we know it, very likely (at my age), in the limited amount of time I have left in this corporal existence. I'm not particularly worried as I've lived a good, long life (at 70+). However, my heart goes out to those generations who are our children's, grand-children's, and great-grand-children's ages. But as Stalin as aptly pointed out. "The lost of one human life is a tragedy; the lose of one million human lives is a statistic." The problem being that the psychopathic "leaders" of this f***ed-up planet think like that, unfortunately.

Commonly called Karma here in SE Asia. All we will hear is "Israel's right to exist." What we'll never hear is "Palestine's right to exist." There is a casus belli to this incursion by Hamas which has to do with Israel's more militant right-wing government constant incursion and takeovers of Palestinian territory (there is a country that was once called Palestine populated by Palestinian Arabs and Christians) and the ejection of Palestinians into what amounts to modern day ghettos in the West Bank and Gaza. Ever since I've been born, that area has been a human right catastrophe for Palestinian Arabs. What is happening is quid pro quo unfortunately. That area has been a human-rights pressure cooker with the relief valve welded shut. There has been terror inflicted on normal civilians on both sides. Pretty soon, maybe now - Boom! It's unfortunate that the West has never been able to implement a "two state solution." And year after year, decade after decade, the Palestinian State shrinks as Israel establishes more and more "settlements" by forcefully removing Palestinians from Palestinian land and then absorbing those territories into Israel. That's just reality. And it's the force creating the tensions that leads to this conflict. It's unfortunate that the militant factions on both sides, Israeli and Palestinian wish to see the ethnic cleansing of the other side and their removal from the Eastern Mediterranean region. The only real losers are the civilians on both sides whom wish to simply co-exist and live in peace.

"I say to the residents of Gaza: Leave now because we will operate forcefully everywhere." --Netanyahu Now the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian civilians begins in earnest. Goodbye Gaza. Goodbye West Bank. Hello 5 million Palestinians ejected out of what will be Israeli-claimed Palestine. Hope the EU has plans for another 5 million displaced people of Arab descent. This is about to become a human-right crisis of epic proportion. You reap what you sow.

Out of the four laptops I've had over the last 15 year, the internal microphone never work on any of them.

Olongapo use to rock back during the USN hayday before SRF Subic was closed. Not sure of it's status not. If Angeles City still rocks, then check out Barrio Barreta along the coast of Subic Bay. If you looking for touristy stuff, consider a trip to Baguio as well as exploring Luzon.

"Tin-foil hat?" Nope. Just ask Nigel Farage and a few thousand Canadian truckers.

I carry my phone with me (sometimes) but almost never need to use it. Cash is king.

Yeah, I've seen similar at a seafood restaurant up near Kittyhawk, NC.

So what? Looks fine to me. No problem at all.

Just pay with cash. You'll end up "upcountry" (without a paddle) if you believe you can do cashless transactions in the part of Thailand where power and internet outages are a fact of life. ???? "I'm sorry. I can't pay you right now because the power is off." ???????? "You give me money - NOW." ???? "I'm sorry. I don't have any money." ???? ???? ????

A Hannibal Lecter clone checking to see if his roast was done? ???? ????️

Forgot his daily lithium dose is my guess.

They are all over the place. Don't read Thai. Memorize this Thai script: ยา

Yep. New TM.30 or 800THB into your local immigration office Christmas Loy Kraton holiday party fund.

Which means you have an IDD transfer set up with SSA with your Bangkok Bank debit account as the recipient of the funds. The old transfers via ACH to BBK Bank were made to completely closed account and required you to show up in person to withdraw the funds.